The Hunter Chronicles
by Dawnandspike4eva
Summary: Sam and Dean Winchester have gained a third Hunter in their time of need and she has become a vital member of the team. They went searching for the key and found Dawn, now she has adjusted to a Hunters lifestyle. The three of them face many kinds of supernatural monsters along the way picking up case after case, but nothing will prepare them for what is to come. Reviews appreciated
1. It Must be Tuesday

She had gotten past that whole griping, I-Want-A-Normal-Life thing. She had more than accepted her supernatural existence and even dove into it head-first. Dawn had reacted much differently than her slayer sister, who only did as she must to save the always ending world from whatever demon-centered apocalypse was afoot. Dawn was not the same, weak girl she once was. She now took great pleasure in demon-hunting, much more than she had in her short attempt at college. It seemed Summers women were not college bound, they were meant to chase the things that go bump in the night.

Dawn had met the Winchester brothers when Castiel came searching for a way through the boundaries between worlds. She, of course, was the only key to crossing those boundaries and bringing down the walls that needed to be obliterated. Dawn had been the key to saving Sam from the hell place he was trapped in. He had been imprisoned in this other dimension because of some she-demon who had made goo-goo eyes at him, Sam had been weak enough to succumb to her charms. So Dawn had come to the rescue at Dean's and Castiel's request. She had opened the portal to the dimension Sam was trapped in, although it had not been as simple as before. This time, she had had to open a very specific portal which meant for an extremely painful experience, one she did not wish to relive. After the portal had been opened, the three of them had rescued Sam who was fortunately still alive, despite being in the clutches of the she-demon.

Once they had come home, "the Boys", as she called them, invited Dawn to join them and she happily agreed. Her sister had not been ecstatic by any means, Buffy had mustered up quite the lecture about how Dawn was not ready for any of this and how she was still too young. Dawn had retorted with the fact that Buffy had saved the world multiple times, not to mention killed her own lover, by the time she had been Dawn's age.

Back in Sunnydale everyone had treated her like a child, even though she had just celebrated her twenty-second birthday. Not to mention an emotional break up with an ex-boyfriend who had been less-than-human. The chance to escape her past was something she had welcomed with open arms. This had been the perfect chance to find the place where she belonged, without anyone holding her back.

But welcomed or not, the past often had a way of tracking her down.

* * *

Dawn swung her right arm across her body, driving the crooked, wooden stake into the heart of the vampire who had his arms around her, ready to sink his teeth into her flesh. Before she could close her mouth to avoid the aftermath, she inadvertently inhaled a gasp of vampiric death-dust. She began coughing and cursing at the sheer grossness of the situation.

"Dammit!" She hissed in between breathy coughs. Nothing could be more disgusting than breathing in the grave-dust of a vampire. It was almost in some sick way like she was eating him...so gross!

"You all right?" A frightened Dean came running into the room, a look of worry in his eyes as he attempted to come to her rescue. He had such a presence in any room that it was impossible not to notice.

"You're..." *cough* "...a little late!" Dawn growled at him, as she was half bent over, trying to stop herself from hacking up her insides.

"Well I'm sorry." He spoke with that crooked smile which always drove her insane. He had a tendency to get on her nerves even worse than Spike could. "What's with the hacking?"

"I inhaled vampire dust!" Dawn swallowed the hard lump in her throat as the cough began to subside.

"Come on, Dawn. I mean, I know it's about dinner time, but that's no excuse to start snacking on vampires." He teased her mercilessly, which was nothing new. Their back and forth banter had become a comfortable part of their relationship.

"If I die of dust inhalation you are going to feel really bad." She gave him a sharp glare, that could only be described as one of Dawn's iconic "looks". She had a way of expressing powerful emotions with just one simple glance.

Dean peered at the pile of dust behind her. "One vampire gave you that much trouble?" He inquired, lifting one eyebrow suggestively.

"No!" She grumbled. "There were like ten vampires, for your information, Sparky!" She waggled an aggravated finger in his face.

"Whoa, whoa! Easy, Tiger! Don't get your panties in a wad! I was joking." A playful smirk danced in his starry emerald eyes, as he forced himself to stifle a chuckle.

"Where's Sam?" Dawn asked a sudden air of concern in her voice.

"Probably playing footsies with some demon chick," Dean shrugged. It was clear he was not at all worried for his brother. He knew that Sam was perfectly capable of handling himself and Dawn was just expressing her womanly duty to worry.

Dawn just rolled her blue eyes and huffed loudly. She felt a sudden relief when she caught a glimpse of an abnormally tall man walking into the room. The tall man, of course, was Sam. She had grown rather attached to the both of them, each in a very different way. Sam was the sweeter of the two, the one with which she had a close brother-sister relationship. She had taken to the role of protecting him in some ways. Dean and Dawn had a very different relationship, made up of witty comebacks and sexual tension. Although she worried for him just as much, it was just part of who she was.

"Sammie!" She smiled and tackled him with a warm hug. Sam just grinned and wrapped his long arms around her. "Dean thought you were flirting with a demon again." She cocked her head to the side in a very smug manner, her long, brown hair falling in place upon her shoulders.

"Thanks for the faith, bro." Sam shot Dean a sarcastic glance.

"Hey, she's the one munching on vampires." Dean pointed to the brunette as if he were telling on her.

"You did what?" Sam wrinkled his forehead as he peered down at Dawn.

"I did not! I accidentally breathed in vamp dust because this one wasn't there to back me up!" Dawn gestured towards Dean.

"Alright, let's get outta here." Dean spat as he began walking towards the door. "I want to get some rest before we-before tomorrow."

"Okay, Dean-O," she grinned.

Dean couldn't help but smile at the sound of his father's nickname for him. The three of them left the now empty building without any clues as to the location of Ruby, who had turned on them completely. She had caused quite the stir trying to get Sam on her side and the three of them had decided that ending her would be the best course of action this time. Dawn never had much of an affinity for Ruby, she had even grown accustomed to using Dean's nickname for her, generously reciting "bitch" whenever they met.

Within the time Dawn spent with the Winchesters she had learned the ins and outs of demon-hunting. She had become acquainted with most of their friends and even a few enemies. She adjusted to being the a member of the gang in ways that she never had with the Scoobies. It had been over a year of being on the road together and any demon-hunter knows that a lot can happen in a year.

* * *

Dawn thrust out her hip in a very cut-the-crap manner as she stared down the demon hunter, who was sitting on her bed. Dean had answered the telephone and was trying to grill the person on the other line before handing the phone over to Dawn. She was not amused by these displays of trying to screen her phone calls for what he called "safety reasons". Finally, she ripped the motel phone from his hands and gave him a less-than gentle, warning tap to the side of the head. Sam chuckled in reaction, from across the motel room.

"Ow," Dean looked at her like a kicked puppy dog. If it had been anyone else, they would not have found that expression on his face, even for the gentlest tap.

"Hello?" The slender brunette spoke the greeting, waiting for a reply. There were very few people who would bother to call her anymore. Everyone she knew still had abandonment issues from her leaving Sunnydale. In their eyes everyone was supposed to live and rot there, they were what you would call lifers.

"Ello, Nibblet!" The thick English accent rang through the phone line, reaching her eardrum with a pulse.

"Spike!?" She exclaimed obviously excited by the sound of his voice on the other end of the line. Dean narrowed his eyes in reaction, still rubbing the side of his head dramatically. "I can't believe you're calling me!"

"Of course I am, luv. But I have to be honest with you, I have a strong urge to rip that Dean bloke's throat out!" Dawn swore she heard him snarl at the end of his sentence. This was clearly the same old Spike that she had known most of her life.

"He's harmless, I promise." Her voice still clearly rang with excitement. Although she was fibbing a bit. Dean was anything but harmless. "So to what do I owe this pleasure?" She asked as she sat down next to Dean on the bed.

"I can't call my best friend without having an ulterior motive?" Spike had an obvious smile in his voice.

"Hmm- well you can, but you have that It's-The-End-Of-The-World sound to your voice," she was painfully familiar with that particular tone. Dawn had heard that sound in the voice of just about everyone she had ever known. The world was always ending, and she was almost always apart of the gang that was intent on saving it.

Spike chuckled loudly at her awareness, she had always been the smart one. "Well, it isn't the end of the world, but I got wind of the mission you're on, Dawn," He sounded very serious now. "I also heard some information about a prophecy involving you and the Winchester brothers. It isn't good Nibblet, and I hate to ask you this, but please just come home and forget about this ridiculous search to find yourself."

"Spike, this is way more important than some search to find myself," Dawn felt instantly hurt by what he had said. He was her best friend, he had always believed in and trusted her. "I care about them, this is my fight now, I don't belong with the Scoobies anymore...this is who I am." She tried not to allow her voice to sound shaky and weak. "I have to go, Spike. I'll call you later." With a click of the phone, she ended the conversation. Dawn clamped her eyes shut and put her face in the palms of her hands.

"Are you all right?" Dean asked, patting her narrow shoulders.

"Yeah, just a visit down Memory Lane." She breathed in deeply, trying to regain control of her emotions. "So...I'm starving! Who wants food?" Dawn asked quickly changing the subject the best way she knew how to. Dean was always hungry.

"I can go pick up some food, you stay here," Sam exclaimed, grabbing the keys from the end table beside the front door. Before either Dawn or Dean could protest, he was out of the motel room and opening the door to the Chevy Impala. He seemed to exit the room in an awkward, hasty manner- as if he were up to something- leaving the both of them completely befuddled.

"So what did your friend say?" Dean asked, letting his arm fall behind Dawn on the bed.

"That I needed to come 'home' because of some prophecy." She shrugged. "I didn't really want to ask him about the details, I will tomorrow I guess."

"Seemed like he said something to upset you. Want me to stake his ass?" Dean asked with that same crooked smile she favored. She had already told them both about Spike and most of the details about her past- most being the operative word.

"No." She chuckled and shook her head. "I don't think that would be the best of ideas." Even though Spike did not evoke the same emotions in her that he used to, she still loved him. She still loved all of the Scoobies regardless of the memories their faces bore.

"So what is the deal with him anyways?" Dean asked calmly. "I mean he seems abnormally protective...you guys never..."

"Hell, no!" She shouted her eyes growing wide with surprise. "He kinda had a thing with my sister." Her face held a dull hint of amusement now.

"Oh," Dean seemed instantly pleased. "So are you ready for tomorrow?" He asked changing the subject. He was not interesting in talking about some vampire friend of hers. Vampires as friends seemed completely absurd to Dean.

"I'm always ready," Dawn perked up instantly, with her usual illuminating smile.

"You know, if you're afraid, you can tell me." His face was serious as he looked at her with smoldering, green eyes.

"I know," she nodded, licking her lips. "But if you and Sam are there, I know everything will be okay." A smile of adoration spread across her face when she spoke about them. "I know that no matter what, you guys will find a way to rescue me if anything goes wrong."

"We are certainly experienced in that department," Dean assured her.

Dawn was right, neither one of them would let anything happen to her without doing whatever they needed to rescue her. She would do the same for either of them, because they were a team now. It was strange, adding a new member to the Winchesters hunting group. But with her, it was as if she had always been there.

"You're not gonna leave us are you, Tiger?" Dean used his customary nickname for her, his face painted with a halfhearted smile. He called her Tiger because of her constant need to be in control, and her ferocity when she was on a hunt. She liked the nickname, although she had never openly admitted to it.

"No, Dean," she shook her head earnestly. "I'm not going anywhere." She stared at him with her blue eyes glinting. She did not plan on going back to that Sunnyhell; this was her life now, as a hunter.

Dean looked down at her skinny pale arm that now rested on her leg. He allowed his hand to slide over the wide, bumpy, white scar that had become a permanent fixture on the inside surface of her arms now. It saddened Dean that she had acquired those scars to save his little brother's life, because he failed to keep Sam out of trouble. Dean had been slipping before Dawn had showed up and picked up the slack, like the champion that she was. It could not have come at a more opportune moment. She had become his hero in so many ways. She had not pitched a fit with Castiel when he had told her she would have to slice open her arms deeper than she would be comfortable with, using a rather scary-looking blade. Dean remembered that he had winced at the thought, of someone so beautiful being scarred so disgustingly. But she had barely even flinched when she heard the terrifying news. She had reacted, however, when Castiel told her that she risked death by doing this. But she had still decided to go through with it. Dean had admired her from that moment on, and the better he got to know her, the easier it became for him to admire her. He admired her, even when she made fun of him, maybe a little more.

"They're just scars, Dean." Dawn's lips formed a tight, but gentle, smile. It was clear by her reaction, that his face was revealing the sorrow he felt at the sight of her scars.

Dean bent his head down slowly and pressed his lips against the scar, placing light kisses against the surface. As he brought his head back up, Dawn caught the gaze of his emerald eyes and lost all reserve. The walls she had been building up to avoid this exact moment, crumbled like a child's building blocks. She allowed herself to lean in, dangerously close, until their lips finally met. What started as a gentle, affectionate kiss, turned into a fiery, passionate lip lock. His hands were in her hair, hers as quickly kneading the nape of his muscular neck. They seemed to have little control over their actions, mostly because they were enjoying this lack of control.

Moments later, they both heard someone at the door, fumbling with its knob, and they pulled away quickly. Sam swung open the door, holding two pizza containers, a brown paper bag on top of them. He closed the door behind him and placed the food on the table. He spun around quickly to see Dawn and Dean, sitting awkwardly next to each other. Sam furrowed his brow as he looked at them, sitting in silence. It was not like the two of them to shut up for more than two seconds.

"What's going on?" Sam asked, looking at the two people he knew best in the world, as if they were strangers. He had never seen them acting so out of character before.

"Nothing!" They swiftly exclaimed in unison.

"Alright then," Sam chuckled, brushing his shaggy hair from his face. "I picked up pizza and some drinks."

"Mmm..." Dean jumped up from the bed, hurrying to the smell of the food. He grabbed a slice from the steaming pizza box and stuck it in his mouth. With the wedge of pizza still clamped between his teeth, he caught Dawn's sudden glare as she sat on the edge of the bed. He stared at her with wide eyes.

"Ahem!" She cleared her throat in a very demanding manner, making Sam chuckle.

Dean gulped down the food in his mouth and rushed to grab her a piece. He handed her the slice of pizza with a square white napkin. Dawn teased him constantly, it was all part of her firecracker personality. She was not about to change the way she acted with him just because they had kissed. That was something she was afraid to lose. Granted, Dean acted differently with her than he ever had with anyone else.

When they were finished with their dinner they went to bed early, at least early for them. They had plans for the next day and they needed their rest, especially Dawn. If they wanted to get their demon, they needed the right weapon and that was exactly what they planned to get. They always gave Dawn a bed to sleep in, usually one of "the boys" slept in the other bed and one took the couch, or they would share with each other. It was more of a kindness for risking her life for Sam before she even knew him, than it was anything else. They didn't treat Dawn like she was weak, they knew what she was capable of.

In the morning Dawn was the first to rise, and she decided to let them sleep a few extra minutes while she jumped in the shower. Before walking into the bathroom her eyes were drawn to Dean sleeping on the couch. There was something about when he slept, maybe it was the fact that she could gaze at him without it being awkward. His long thick eyelashes made her smile, and she giggled when she noticed his face in a puddle of drool. She walked into the bathroom stifling her giggles the entire way there. After Dawn was finished in the shower she did her makeup and hair while still inside of the bathroom. When she was finished she wrapped a white towel tightly around her body before she went back into the motel room to get her clothes. When she walked into the other room both Sam and Dean were awake and getting ready themselves.

"Good morning," Dawn smiled at them both, her attitude clearly chipper. She walked over to the dresser where most of her clothes were folded neatly. They often didn't have enough time to unpack their things, so when she could Dawn took advantage of the opportunity to put her clothes into a dresser or closet.

"Mornin'," Dean said staring at her. His eyes were jetting quickly up and down the length of her body. The towel was small and showed most of her long toned legs and of course hugged her tightly. Strangely enough he was caught off his guard since normally she would not have come out in such an indiscreet lack of clothing.

"Dean," Sam beckoned. "Close your mouth," he said with a strange but amused look on his face.

Dawn just giggled as she looked through her clothing. She grabbed a pair of jean shorts and a cute flattering red tank top that hugged her body and showed some cleavage. It was nice wearing something that wasn't intended for kicking monster ass but just to look cute and lets not forget comfortable. Monster fighting clothing was not the most cozy of attire, it was mostly efficient and had to be able to carry weapons, lost of weapons.

When they were finished getting ready they all piled into the Impala together, Dawn riding in the back while Sam and Dean sat up front. As usual Dean had his classic rock blasting from the stereo, which Dawn didn't mind since it was her preferred genre as well. When they finally got to their destination Dawn felt a sudden nervousness in the pit of her stomach, which was unusual for her. Normally, she would face whatever lay in her path without looking back, but this morning she felt uneasy. Dean and Sam got out first and Dawn followed, she stared up at the big broken down looking building and cringed. Why did it always have to be old broken down buildings that were nearly falling apart like this? Of course, it just had to add to the creep factor.

"You alright, Dawn?" Sam asked turning around to look at her. Obviously she was not hiding her anxiety very well.

"Yah, I'm good," she shook her head feeling slightly foolish as she caught up to them.

"Don't worry, Tiger," Dean put his muscular arm around her shoulders and rubbed her arm playfully. "We've got your back," he pulled her close to him. Dawn felt a strange comfort with him holding her so close. She relaxed into his grasp and let out a deep breath she did not realize she was holding.

"Everything is going to be fine, I promise," Sam stood at the other side of her and wrapped his arm around her waste. With the both of them at either side of her, protecting her, all of her worries faded away.

"Thanks," a bright grin spread across Dawn's full lips.

They walked through the front door of the abandoned building together. When they got inside there was a sudden waft of a disgusting musky odor which only added to the buildings natural appeal. They spotted Castiel who had his back to them, he was bent over drawing something on the floor. Dawn felt an inner chuckle at the site of Castiel in his fancy attire. The angel spun around, he was holding a strange looking open book in one hand.

"Are you ready?" Castiel spoke in monotone, a serious look on his shockingly handsome face.

"Hold on," Sam nodded at him and then turned to face Dawn. He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her so that she was facing him. "Listen, I promise you no matter what happens we are both right here with you every step of the way." He looked down at her with his warm hazel eyes. They were eyes that held a deep and hidden strength. "If at any point you want to stop, just tell us. We can find another way, you don't have to do this." Sam gave her a reassuring nod and the warmth in his gentle face washed over her like the warmth of the sun.

"It's okay," Dawn nodded assuredly. "I can do this." She stood up on the tips of her toes and gave Sam a peck on the cheek. Dawn spun on her heel and started walking towards Castiel. Before she could get very far she was jolted back by someone grabbing her arm and pulling her around. When she looked up she was faced with familiar green eyes.

"I-I," Dean tripped over his words as he looked Dawn in the eyes. "Just, don't get yourself killed," he demanded hoarsely.

"Okay," the boundaries of her lips began to twitch as she tried not to smile. Dean was never good with expressing emotion, but it was clear that he was worried for her. She pulled herself up by grasping his shoulder, and placed a lingering kiss on his cheek. This was clearly different than when she had kissed Sam, and it did not go unnoticed.

Dawn turned around and continued towards Castiel and the strange white chalk circle that was drawn on the cement floor. She stood in front of him and awaited his demands. She tried to hide the fact that she was just a little bit petrified, as she always did. They all knew her as the strong girl from the hell-mouth, the girl who could withstand any crisis, the girl who could conquer any fear. She had to maintain that strength in front of them now, she was not going to be the weak kid sister anymore. Her posture was steady and confident, big blue eyes awaited their fearful fate.

"Go sit in the center of the circle," Castiel commanded, his raspy voice was almost intimidating.

"Yes Sir," Dawn winked playfully and walked into the circle. Dawn realized that nothing good ever came from circles drawn with chalk on the ground. At least it isn't drawn in blood, she thought to herself, and then chuckled. "Indian style?" She raised one eyebrow looking back at Castiel.

"Sit on your heels," he suggested nodding. Castiel was not as stiff as he sometimes seemed, but this was not a time for jokes in his mind. Dawn and Dean were both the type of people who used humor to feel better. Humor was just another road to escaping the things they did not want to face. They both internalized everything to a very unhealthy degree.

Dawn did as she was told and sat down on her heels in the center of the circle. She closed her eyes and breathed in the air around her. The anxiety stung deep in her chest and she feared if she opened her eyes the room would close in around her. Why did it always seem like she was the one in the center of these frightening little spells?

"Both of you sit next to her around the outside of the circle," Castiel gestured to the two frightened looking brothers. They both did as he said, Dean sat down to the right of Dawn and Sam knelt down to her left. Dawn felt instantly relieved that they were both much closer to her

"What's next boss?" Dawn inquired her voice slightly shaky.

"Alright, now both of you hold one of her hands." As Castiel spoke, Dawn could feel that this was the next step before the scary part began. She stretched out her arms and instantly felt them being grasped at each end. Both the hands that she was holding onto felt very different. To the left she felt long fingers covering hers completely, while to the right a smaller yet stronger and slightly sweaty hand held onto hers.

"Ready Cas," Deans voice cracked as he looked over at Castiel. He swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to maintain his calm.

"Alright," Castiel walked around to the front of where Dawn knelt. He reached into his pocket and placed a small hand gun in front of her inside the circle. Her eyes widened and then she breathed in deep. It was an old looking gun with a fancy design on the brown grip. "Dawn, you have to repeat my words in English, I am meant to tell you the Latin words while you translate them into English as direct as you can," Dawn nodded at him to continue. She could understand Latin, ancient Sumerian and a few other languages that were considered "dead". "Ego Key, offerre interiorem lux ad cudendum telum omnium arma. Reliquum vitae periculum et ad conservandam pacem." Castiel stood awaiting her translation, a slight presence of anxiety on his face.

"I the Key," Dawn let out an exaggerated breath. She was tired of being 'the key' it was the reason she was always stuck in these situations, but it was also the source of her power and partly gave her a sense of pride. How could she hate something that had brought her to Dean and Sam, and had saved Sam from a hell-dimension. "Offer my inner light to forging the weapon of all weapons. I risk my life in order to maintain the balance on earth," she closed her eyes and squeezed both the hands she was holding. Both Dean and Sam grew uncomfortable at the sound of the words 'risk my life' the very moment she spoke them.

Castiel continued to recite the words in Latin and then awaited her reply. He spoke with such clarity and assurance that is made Dawn doubt her ability to translate.

"Gather my light into this weapon, gather my strength, the key to worlds, the brightest light of all earthly lights," a tear slid down her pale cheek and she bit her bottom lip. She felt the magic tingling at her and building deep inside of her.

"Iubeo ut ex verbis modo fiat," there was a clear hesitation present in Castiel's voice.

"As I command, by my words, let it be done now!" Dawn tipped her head back and a bright light erupted from her chest and flowed all around the room. Although Dean and Sam tried to hold onto her hand, they were involuntarily tossed backwards. The only person maintaining his place was Castiel, clearly he had seen much brighter lights in heaven. As for the rest of them this was something they had never seen before, thankfully they were shielded from its brightness by the force tossing them backwards. The air was incredibly clear, almost like they were floating in the clouds. They couldn't be sure just how much time passed between the initial blast and when the calmness arrived.

When the dust settled and the room was free of the blinding, powerful light, Dean looked up to find Dawn laying completely lifeless in the center of the circle. He jumped to his feet without hesitation and rushed to her side. Dean lifted her limp body into his arms and began trying to jolt her to consciousness.

"Dawn!" Deans voice was filled with fear as he beckoned to the brunette in his arms. "Come on!" He continued to shake her but she remained completely unmoving. He felt her pulse but it was barely strong enough to feel at all.

"Dawn..." Sam wrinkled his forehead as he propped himself up. He was afraid to move, he almost appeared as still as stone.

"Wake up," Dean cradled her in his arms and cupped her face with his hand. "Please, come back to me..." with his eyes closed he buried his face into the bend of her neck.

"That had to take its toll on her, she might just need time..." Castiel stood next to Dean inside the circle staring down.

"Come on, wake up Dammit!" He demanded as he held her close to him.

"Spike..." Dawn whimpered her eyes still closed. "Don't let me fall." There was a fear in her voice as she started to touch consciousness. Her voice was almost too quiet to hear at all, she was still not fully awake.

"Dawn?" Sam quickly jumped to his feet and made his way to her side.

"Are you okay?" Dean asked, feeling relief wash over him as he held her in his arms. It seemed they experienced far too many of these little scares.

"Dean?" She opened her blue eyes slowly and looked up at him. She was still not completely aware of her surroundings, but still her lips curved into a delicate smile at the sound of his voice.

"Come on let's get you to a hospital," Dean lifted her into his arms and in one swift motion had her off the ground.

"I'll get the gun," Sam urgently turned around and reached for the weapon but was stopped by Castiel's hand.

"Don't touch it with your bare hand, it needs to cool off for a while." Castiel tossed him a small white cloth and Sam caught it.

Sam wrapped the cloth around the gun and lifted it from the ground. He rushed to catch up to Dean who was already half way out the door in somewhat of a panic. Sam opened the door to the backseat of the car and held it open. Dean gently placed Dawn into the car and crawled in next to her, but not before tossing Sam the keys.

"I don't want to go to a hospital." Dawn rested her head against Dean's firm shoulder. "Please," she begged. Dawn had always hated the smell of a hospital. Whenever she stepped into a hospital the scent rushed her with memories of her mother, and how painful it was to lose her.

"But Dawn-" Dean tried to speak but was cut off by the sound of the key turning in the ignition.

"Let's just take her home for now Dean," Sam suggested and Dean just nodded in response. It was clear that the last thing she needed was the stress of an emergency room. A nice warm bed was all she really needed.

* * *

Sam sat on the edge of the bed trying to bring a smile to the beautiful girls captivating features. Dawn was laying in the motel bed after the trauma she had endured. It was obvious she was going to be fine, she was already healing extremely fast and it had only been hours since the injury had occurred. It seemed the more she used her key powers the stronger they became, and somewhat speedy healing was one of the perks.

"You know you kinda scared the crap out of us," Sam chided. They had been close friends since the day she saved his life, and that connection would never fade. "How about you avoid the near death experiences for a while?"

"I'll try my best," she whispered, then gave him a subtle wink.

"Get some rest," Sam patted her on the arm and rose to his feet. He walked across the small motel room and into the bathroom to take a shower before bed. Sometimes the feeling of the hot water helped him clear his head after a rough day. Although everyday they lived as hunters seemed to turn into a rough day.

Dawn sat up in bed, moving her legs to flop over the edge. She reached her hand up to tuck her long brown hair behind her ear. When she looked up from underneath her long eyelashes, those same familiar green eyes were standing in front of her. When she looked at him standing before her, she felt a smile tug at her soul.

"Hey," Dean smiled but it quickly faded from his face.

"Hey," her reply came out as a whisper, which was not her intent.

"How you feeling?" He asked her as he sat down on the bed beside her. It was obvious he was slightly afraid she was going to go into cardiac arrest at any moment.

Dawn looked over at him, he was waring a tight black T-shirt and jeans, he was never much of a fancy dresser. Dawn liked his wardrobe though, something sexy about the way his clothes hugged his skin. She had tried to fight thoughts like that a million times before, they seemed to creep up on her. She did not want to ruin this family they had, it meant everything to her, and her feelings for Dean threatened to ruin that. Fighting your feelings for someone is never easy, especially ones that were this strong. After the previous night all she could think about when she looked at him, were the way his lips felt against hers. Dawn sat next to him, fighting every urge inside of her that was telling her to reach out and kiss him.

"Tired," she nodded looking down at her lap. She was wearing her sleep clothes now, dangerously short blue shorts and a thin white tank top.

"Can I ask you a question?" Dean's raspy voice sounded strangely serious. She fought the urge to look at him, just the sound of his voice made her breathing wild. Just the air in the room was suddenly thick. The two of them didn't have conversations like this, this was far too serious.

"Of course," she rubbed her knee with the palm of her hand nervously.

"Earlier, when you were first waking," he took a deep breath before he spoke again. "Y-you thought that I was...someone else." Dean found it hard to find the right words, he felt like a fool.

"What do you mean?" Dawn turned her head to look at him now and wrinkled her forehead in confusion.

"Spike," he nodded. "You said 'Spike', and then you said 'don't let me fall'..." Dean looked over at her. "Was it because you wanted it to be him?" His eyes held a look that she had never witnessed in them before. She cocked her head to the side and then shot back to look at her own shaky hands.

"I'm not sure, maybe in a way," Dawn said honestly. "But I was dreaming, of something that happened a very long time ago, and that is why I said his name." She reached for his hand and squeezed it gently. "When I opened my eyes, I was glad to see your face, I'm always glad to see your face." There was so much emotion in Dawn's voice that Dean feared she might cry. Then in an instant she released his hand and brought it to the bridge of her nose. "I shouldn't be saying this," she reprimanded herself. She needed to be the strong one, she needed to be in control.

"Tell me," Dean grabbed her wrists and removed them from her face gently. His voice was urgent and pleading, he wanted to hear this, needed to hear this.

"I don't think I should." Dawn squeezed her eyes shut in fear of what she would see in his face.

"Look at me," he pleaded reaching his hand to cup the side of her face. He smiled at the feeling of her perfect smooth skin against his rough hand. In so many ways they were opposites, yet in so many ways they were exactly alike.

"No," her voice was whiny as she felt the tears building up in her eyes. She didn't want to cry, she felt that would be unbelievably foolish of her.

"Dawn," Dean held back the laugh that was threatening to force its way from his throat. He knew that if he laughed she would take it the wrong way. The reason Dean wanted to laugh was because he found her simply adorable. "Please," he begged, holding her face in both of his hands.

Dawn pealed her eyes open nervously and was met with his gaze. His face was inches in front of hers as he stroked her cheeks with his thumbs. She couldn't combat the emotions building inside of her, their strength was overbearing as she looked at his face. She had fought this for far too long, and up until now she had done a pretty good job fighting it. Something about the way he looked at her now made her feel all kinds of awestruck. She could feel everything from her past and all the fears of her future fall away, there was only here and now, there was only him. Dean leaned in closer and rested his forehead against hers, both his hands cupped the back of her neck gently. Dawn could face any monster or life threatening situation that was tossed at her, but this moment made her want to run away screaming.

"I know you're afraid." Dean's voice was gentler than she had ever witnessed before. "But I need you to be honest with me like you always have been."

"But I can't lose the two of you." Dawn bit her bottom lip and tried not to think of how terribly she wanted this. It seemed her life was filled with regrets that she could not change. The last thing she wanted was to face a fork in the road that led to regret no matter what path she chose. Regardless, there she stood, staring down the two roads and fearing that both possible regrets would be unbearable.

"You won't," he promised. "This is your home, you belong with us. Nothing can ever change that now." Dean pulled his face away from hers and ran a hand through her long hair.

"What do you want me to say?" She asked, sadness in her sapphire eyes.

"The truth...whatever it is you're afraid to tell me." Dean needed to hear her reassure him so badly now. He felt incredibly threatened by this 'Spike' from her past, even though nothing had ever happened with him. Dawn had told them almost everything about her past when she first arrived with them, and the way her voice sounded when she spoke about Spike, made him jealous. Every possible man from her past who she cared for, made him shamefully jealous.

"I'm afraid to tell you everything," Dawn took a lengthy breath. "Afraid to tell you that for a very long time, I have been fighting how I feel about you. That right now it is taking every small bit of strength inside of me not to kiss you." Dawn thought about her admittance, she had been smothering these feelings so hearing them spoken from her own lips felt strange. The reality was always there, the truth lay in the back of her mind even though she condemned it.

That was all the invitation that he needed to hear, Dean brought his mouth to hers. What followed was a passionate kiss that completely prevented them from denying the truth between them. Then they were abruptly interrupted by the sound of the motel phone ringing throughout the room. The sound forced them to cease their lip lock, they both sat breathing heavily. After a few seconds Dawn hesitantly reached for the phone and lifted it to her hear slowly.

"H-Hello," Dawn sounded clearly flustered.

"Hey, Nibblet," the sound of Spike's accent on the other line shocked her.

"I-I-I," Dawn couldn't seem to get control of her voice.

"Look, I'm sorry if I upset you yesterday, I am just afraid for you. This prophecy is not a good one, and I don't want you in the sodding middle of it," there was a sincerity in his voice. "Please come home," Spike begged.

"Even if I wanted to, I couldn't," Dawn replied finally finding her voice. "I wouldn't have a place to stay, Buffy and I aren't exactly on speaking terms."

"You can stay with me," Spike answered quickly, as if it were the answer to all their problems. "Besides, I know Buffy wants to see you, we all miss you, Love."

"It's just not good enough right now," Dawn hissed. "There is nothing pulling me there."

"What about me?" Spike asked, an unusual sadness in his voice.

"What about you?" She asked confused.

"Little Bit, I am begging you," his voice was deep and demanding. "I have something important to tell you, something I can't just say on the phone," Spike's tone worried her.

"How important?" She asked concerned.

"It is important to me that you come. I know you once cared about me, if you still do at all, please do this for me." There was a weakness in his voice that Dawn rarely heard from him.

"When I find the time, I will come." Dawn promised reluctantly. She knew he would do the same kindness for her, so she had to for him.

"Thank you," Spike breathed. "Please make it soon, Nibblet."

With a click of the phone Dawn turned to look at Dean, who sat with a sullen look on his face. The sound of Spikes voice in her ear disappeared when she looked at his face. She felt an intense warmth and a paralyzing fear at the site of his green eyes staring at her, waiting for an answer. It was an answer she did not know how to give, she was petrified because she so desperately wanted him.

"Where are you going?" Dean asked.

"Sunnydale," she replied. "But not-"

"Showers free," Sam announced as he entered the room, steam following behind him. "Did I interrupt something?" He asked as he shook his wet hair off with a towel. He was wearing a pair of blue sweatpants and no shirt, his rather large physique showing. The three of them had grown far too comfortable with one another over their time together.

"Nope," Deans tone was short, he got up from the bed quickly. He was obviously not pleased that Dawn had decided to go back to a place she referred to as Sunnyhell.

"Ugh!" Dawn made an exasperated sound and flopped backwards onto the bed.

"What's going on?" Sam looked back and forth between his brother and Dawn. They were both acting strange lately, and Sam was not as clueless as they thought he was. He had picked up on the tension between the two of them long before they were even aware of it themselves. All he ever wanted was for Dean to find any small bit of happiness he could, he saw that for him in Dawn. Sam knew that with Dawn his brother stood a chance of making something last. It was clear she would not give up on him and she belonged in the same messed up world that he did.

"Nothing," Dawn replied. "I was going somewhere but I'm not now," she shot Dean an annoyed look.

"Dean, what did you do now?" Sam tossed his wet towel at Dean, who grabbed it quickly.

"Just the usual idiotic behavior," Dawn leaned her head backwards so that she could see Sam. Her lips held a subtle smile, on occasion Sam and Dawn enjoyed picking on Dean together.

"Why am I not surprised?" Sam shook his head sarcastically.

"Hey Sam, remember that time you let a vampire turn me?" Dean tossed the towel back at his brother, an irritated look on his face. "Let's try not to keep score, alright?"

"You can't bring that up every-time you do something stupid." Sam chuckled and flopped onto the couch. "I mean we could go back and forth all night, dude."

"I'm going to bed now," the brunette shook her head as she rolled over in her bed. She was used to their back and forth banter by now. It was nice being away from the strange language of the scoobies, where everything ended in y.

After they finished saying "goodnight" Dawn drifted swiftly into sleep. Even though she was healing relatively fast, the previous days activities had certainly exhausted her. Normally Dawn would have struggled to fall asleep, her mind would have reeled through everything that had happened. The thoughts plaguing her would not be about the demon they were chasing, monsters were something she was accustomed to. She would be much more preoccupied with the most recent development between her and Dean. Now, that was truly something to be concerned about. She also had Spike to worry about. She had promised him that she would come see him. It felt like she was torn between two best friends, at the same time torn between her past and her future. She realized that turning her back on "the boys" would risk everything and she realized it would probably shatter whatever had happened between her and Dean. So she made the decision to stay, even though the phone call to Spike was going to be more than challenging.

Dean on the other hand, was having trouble sleeping. It was highly unusual for Dean to lay awake at night because of "emotional" problems, certainly not over a woman. He had not been much for serious relationships and even when he had, it was much different. With Lisa he knew it was doomed from the start, she lived a normal life and Dean didn't. It was evident from the very beginning that things could not last, no matter how desperately he wanted them to. Dean was not made for the cookie cutter, "apple pie" life, and no matter what, that would separate him from any "normal" relationship. It made it easier to let go, because reality told him it could not work, but Dawn was different. Dawn was different because she was not normal, she belonged in his world. She was not afraid of the things that go bump in the night, she hunted them just like he did. They both lived in the same world, because they were the same. He didn't have to fear for her life constantly, she was more than capable of taking care of herself. Dawn had grown up in this world, she didn't know anything else, she had never even been close to normalcy. She was even more wrapped up in the supernatural because she was apart of it, she was "the key". Before she had been placed inside her human form, she was basically a ball of green energy that was almost as old as the earth itself. Dean realized that with her, he stood a chance of actually having something real, and that petrified him. He had a rather capable talent for screwing things up, especially when he really wanted them to work out.

* * *

"Wake up!" Dawn woke to the feeling of someone shaking her to consciousness. She peeled her tired eyes open to find Sam kneeling above her, worry written across his features.

"What's wrong?" She yawned and tried to force herself awake. There was nothing worse than being woken abruptly to the sound of a panicked voice in your ear. Although, truthfully it was not an unusual wake up call for her.

"It's Dean," he answered. "He's gone!"

"Oh not again!" Dawn jumped up quickly and climbed out of bed. "What is it with you two? You get captured more than I do, I mean seriously, who is the girl here?" She tossed her arms into the air dramatically. Dawn hastily rummaged through her clothing until she found suitable hunting clothes, she tossed them onto her bed.

"I think it was Ruby." Sam turned around quickly so that his back was to Dawn, allowing her to change her clothes.

"Of course it was Ruby!" Dawn growled, her voice oozing with sarcasm and dramatics. She began undressing as fast as she could and then dressed herself in black leggings and a simple black tank top. She grabbed her black boots, they were somewhat cute but were not designed for style. There was steel in the toe of the boots that made for a fantastically effective kick. "You can turn around," she ordered and Sam complied. "So do we have any idea were to go?" She ran her fingers through her long dark hair and pulled it up into a tight high-pony-tale.

"No, but Cas might," Sam suggested.

"Hello," Castiel announced his sudden presence as he appeared in the room.

"Holy shit!" Dawn shouted grabbing her chest. "One of these times Cas, you are going to give me a heart attack!"

"Sorry, but it's the fastest way here." Castiel stood in front of them wearing his usual long tan coat.

"Well you can say that at my funeral," Dawn stood up and walked towards her weapons chest.

"Cas, we need your help," Sam interjected. "Dean is missing and we think Ruby took him."

"Well I'll need a few things," his tone made it clear that he was leading up to something. "But if I just had a few drops of blood from the Key than I wouldn't need anything else, it would be much more proficient for our time constraint."

"Of course," she snorted.

The frail girl spun around and walked towards Castiel. She was finished getting together her weapons, so she tossed Sam his weapons belt. The angel grabbed a bowl from the table next to him and held it out in front of her. Dawn grabbed a small dagger from her boot and sliced her hand allowing the deep crimson colored blood to drip down into the bowl. When she was sure there was enough she grabbed a bandage that was also on the table and wrapped her hand as best she could with little time. She then wiped her blade on a towel and slid it back into its place in her boot. As Castiel worked on his spell, Sam and Dawn continued getting ready.

"You should take the gun," Sam held out the weapon they had made the previous day. "It belongs to you," he nodded.

"Thanks," her full lips came to a fake smile. Dawn grabbed the gun and placed it in the thigh holster she was wearing.

"Found them!" Castiel declared from the other end of the hotel room.

"Let's go kick that bitches ass," Dawn narrowed her eyes into dangerous slits.

In an instant Castiel was standing in between them his hands on both of them. The next site proved that Cas had teleported them to their destination before they could object.

"How about a warning next time you use your angel powers?" Dawn hissed.

"Where the hell are we?" Sam looked around the room, trying to get a grip on their location.

"I believe it is...I'm not sure but it seems like a house." Castiel began walking into the seemingly nice house.

"Where are they?" Sam jerked his head around the room making sure they were not being watched. He knew from experience that things were not always as they seemed.

"Basement," Dawn nodded assuredly. "It's always the basement," she shrugged.

"I think she is right," the angel peered over his shoulder to look at Sam.

"Basement it is," Sam replied.

Castiel led the way down the long hallway and the other two followed. Dawn was pleased to notice that is was not the usual broken down, stench filled building. The scent of decay that was normally in the air made for a more uncomfortable situation than usual. Also the more Dawn used her Key powers the more they developed, and as of recently she had heightened senses. Whenever there was a powerful scent in the area it made it harder to focus.

"Looking for someone?" A dark haired man stood at the end of the hallway with a crooked smile on his menacing features.

"It's a demon," Castiel growled. "You guys go ahead I'll take care of this." The moment he spoke three more men walked into the room.

"But Cas-" Dawn whispered.

"Go!" He shouted over her before she could put up much of a fight. When Castiel wanted to be he was quite convincing, and extremely frightening.

Dawn did as he said and made her away across the room to where she the basement door was. Something told her where to go, something drew her towards the narrow door across from them. Sam followed behind her relying on her intuition, he had already found it to be trustworthy. Dawn reached for the door handle only to find that it was locked. Sam grabbed her arm and moved her aside, he bashed his shoulder against the door shattered the small wooden frame. They both hurried down the steps hearing Castiel fighting behind them. Dawn had faith in his ability to defend himself, she knew Castiel was safer than they were without him by their side. She was almost disappointed she didn't get a chance to watch Cas in action.

The basement proved to be much more dismal and odor filled than the rest of the house. Dawn shivered at the site of a gruesome looking spider crawling beside her head. She scurried quickly down the steps to find exactly what she expected. Dean was tied up to a large board with his arms behind his back, his face was bloodied and had clearly been beaten. Dawn grew instantly angry when she saw how Ruby had taken to treating him, she swore the bitch would pay for that. Ruby stood with a smug grin that Dawn wanted to smack clean off her obnoxiously pretty face.

"Hey blondie," Dawn narrowed her eyes into hard thin lines, giving a fierce look that only she was capable of.

"Dawn? Sam?" Dean sounded weak as he peeled his sore eyes open to see his rescuers. Of course Dean knew they would find him, they always found each other. Always. They were family.

"Don't worry Dean we're gonna get you outta here," Sam promised. He felt an intense urgency, all he wanted to do was leap across the room for his brother.

"You sure about that Sammie?" Ruby raised one eyebrow, her high pitched voice was smooth and self-assured.

Dean had always been suspicious of Ruby, he knew never to trust the likes of a demon. No good ever came from ties between demons and hunters, there was a line drawn between them that Dean only saw trouble in crossing. Maybe it was just his old school mentality that made him so closed-minded, but mostly he knew it was from experience.

"Never trust a Witch," Dawn shook her head. She was trying to control her anger, if she harnessed it properly she could use it to her advantage, if she let it get away from her it would only hinder her.

Since Dawn had been introduced to the Winchester brothers she had laid an irrational claim over them as the only woman in their lives that they could rely on. When she first laid eyes on Ruby she instantly felt that there was absolutely no reason to trust her, and she wanted her demon ass far away from her boys. She had made her feelings towards Ruby very clear, and although Sam promised her Ruby would not betray them, Dawn was not convinced. Ruby being a Witch in her human life made Dawn all the more skeptical towards her. Not that she was judgmental towards Witches by any means, but something about the connection between that and her deal with a demon certainly made her look suspicious. From her own personal experience the magic Witches carried came from a dark place and was intensely hard to grasp a firm control on. Even the strongest and purest of people had a hard time keeping their magic from drifting to darkness. She had witnessed Willow fail many times before, sometimes power was hard to control. She realized any kind of power was easy to fall victim too, it was part of why she wanted to distance herself form her Key powers.

"Just because you are the Key doesn't mean everyone is afraid of you." Ruby sniggered and shot Dawn a contemptuous glare. Ruby was confident in her own personal power, she had little fear towards what she concluded to be a little girl dressed like a hunter.

"I predate you and most of your friends, maybe you should be afraid of me?" Dawn took a few slow steps towards the blond demon.

"Maybe it is three against one, but I can promise one of you isn't going to make it out alive." Ruby practically sang the words with a dicey edge to them. "It's nice to see you again, Sam," Ruby grinned flirtatiously averting her attention from Dawn to Sam. Sam gave her a compelling glare that was filled with hatred and disgust.

"Enough small talk," Dawn charged towards Ruby, it was now or never.

Once the fighting began it all happened frighteningly fast, it was not trapped in slow motion like some presumptuous books might tell you. There was little time to react and even less time to catch sight of what your opponent was doing. Not only that but the adrenaline coursing through your veins caused a lapse with time and an inability to clearly remember what had just occurred even moments ago. A true fight was all about letting go of what was past and trusting your senses.

Dawn spun around with force, colliding her steel toed boot to the center of Ruby's stomach. The demon slammed against the cold hard cement with a dreadful smacking sound. The blond quickly recovered and jumped to her feet with ease. Before Dawn could dodge her oncoming fists Ruby settled a punch square to her face. Dawns head wavered backwards, the taste of the blood in her mouth only infuriated her. In reaction the brunette crouched down to the floor and swiped her leg underneath where Ruby was standing, knocking her to the ground with another lovely smacking sound.

As Dawn held Ruby off, Sam made his way to Deans side to cut him free of his ropes. Sam looked Dean over realizing that his wounds were superficial, he was going to be just fine. They felt completely helpless as they watched Ruby kick Dawn in the chest sending her flying across the room and hitting the cement wall. As Dawn was pulling herself from the ground, Ruby swiftly reached for a knife that was sheathed at her hip. She cocked her hand back and flung the knife, sending it spiraling towards Dawn. Dean bolted towards the path of the knife flinging himself through the air. He was just in time to catch the knife in his chest and fall to the ground in between the cat-fight.

"Dean!" Dawn and Sam shouted simultaneously.

Dawn rose to her feet and pulled the gun from its holster, she pointed it at the blonde demon. Her face was hot with fury as she clenched her jaw tight aiming her weapon for the killer in front of her.

"The Lux?!" Ruby's face was blanketed in complete terror, her eyes widened. She had never seen a true Lux before, she had believed it to be a myth.

Dawn pulled the trigger and the bullet whizzed across the room to meet its destination. She did not hesitate, she did not make a finale sarcastic remark, she just fired away. As the bullet hit Ruby it burst through her with a blinding light and then the light exploded though her entire body, enveloping the room. This light only momentarily blinded the onlookers and when it was finished Ruby was no longer there.

Sam and Dawn both rushed to Deans side without hesitation. The knife was still sticking out of his chest and Dean was gasping for air, although he was still alert. They didn't have much time and it was obvious, they were losing him.

"Sam what do we do?" Dawns blue eyes filled with tears. She felt instantly like the world would stop, like everything around her was a haze and reality had disappeared. If she lost Dean, if he died saving her life, there would be no coming back from that. Sam and Dawn would both stop living, they couldn't survive without him. It was almost like they were three parts to a really messed up whole.

"Castiel!" Sam hollered with a shaky voice.

"I am here," Castiel came running down the stairs. "Dean?" His eyes turned deep with shock. He quickly rushed to the group and knelt down next to them his face twisted in terror. "How did this happen?"

"He jumped in front of the knife to save Dawn." Sam held his brother in his arms. He held onto a vain hope they would save him, because they simply had to.

"Cas, my blood!" Dawn felt her heart leap in her chest at the sudden realization that she might be able to save him. "Will my blood work?" She spoke with an intentional urgency.

"The ramifications are unpredictable, I have no idea what kind of portals it would open or what sort of problems it would cause in the future."

"Will it save him!?" Dawn shouted, tears streaming down her face now. If he told her 'no' she wouldn't be able to hear it.

"Yes, it should," he replied earnestly.

"Come on Cas," Sam begged. "This is Dean were talking about."

"It could kill you," the angel explained looking Dawn directly in her crystal blue eyes.

"Do it!" Dawn ordered decisively. Her stern expression told him that she was not going to listen to anyone's objections.

"Hold out your arms," Castiel grabbed Dawns knife from her boot without asking. Dawn offered her arms out sacrificially. He met her eyes with his own and gave her a warning look, she knew what it meant. Dawn bit her bottom lip to prepare for the pain she had already endured once before. Castiel sliced down her already present scars in multiple aggressive swipes, which were much different than before. The blood splashed around them in the circle they were unwittingly forming around Dean. Dawn could hear Castiel reciting words in another language but she was losing consciousness and could no longer understand him. She felt herself screaming but she could not hear the sound as she tried to remain as still as possible. And then it felt like the very air inside of her was being ripped from her body, which was hanging by a mere thread. Dawn could feel her self slipping away and she could feel the powerful magic coursing through her body and enveloping her. There were so many other things that she was feeling that were foreign to her and were completely unexplainable. She fought to stay conscious as long as she could but soon enough she slipped away from reality.

* * *

When she finally woke her eyes were met with an astonishing and unexpected site. Her vision was overloaded with the presence of an unearthly blonde with unnaturally high cheekbones. Spike was sitting on her bed, looking down at her with a pained look on his pale features. Before Dawn could open her mouth to speak she felt pain crushing her down against the bed. She started coughing which only made the hurt all the more agonizing.

"Easy, Nibblet." Spike handed her a glass of water and she complied as best she could drinking it down.

"Spike?" Dawn wrinkled her forehead. "Why-" was the only word she could assemble the strength for. Her thoughts were still working on catching up with her.

"I called, and the tall one told me you were hurt, you've been unconscious for a couple of days." The sound of his familiar accent brought her a strange sense of comfort. "Which made it obvious to me that the prophecy had come true."

"That was why you wanted me to come home? You knew I was going to get hurt?" Dawn asked. Her voice was raspy and alien sounding, even to her.

"Yes, but I thought you would come home before that." Spike was clearly annoyed.

"Wait-Dean!?" Dawn sat up in an instant panic. She was still having trouble getting touch with reality, but the second she remembered Dean she felt the terror rise inside of her. There was an aching in her gut when she remembered what had happened.

"He is alive," Spike said pushing her back down onto the bed gently.

"Oh thank God!" Her eyes swelled with tears which she refused to let fall. She rubbed her tired eyes and let out a sigh of relief. She felt the sickness inside of her fall away in an instant, everything was all right because he was alive.

"You risked your life for them twice now Dawn." The vampires' tone reminded her why so many people were afraid of him. "I outta kill them both and take you home with me," he snarled.

"Spike, he almost died saving my life- I had to," her blue eyes were staring him down. He remembered that stare, remembered how no one could make you feel such emotion just by a simple look.

"So come home now, Nibblet," he pleaded.

"I can't-"

"I don't buy that," Spike raised one scarred eyebrow.

"They are family to me, I love them," Dawn winced as another pain shot through her body.

"And I'm not?" His voice was uncharacteristically gloomy.

"I might be in love-" She squeezed her eyes shut in fear of his reaction.

"And the truth comes out."

"I didn't know how to tell you," she shrugged. Spike was the one person from her past whose opinion she still valued. It mattered to her what he thought of her significant other and she realized that Dean was not his favorite person at the moment.

"It's the short one, isn't it? The wanker with the attitude problem?" Spike scoffed. He knew her well enough to know what her taste in the opposite sex was. She had a thing for the criminally sarcastic, and often crude personality types.

"Yah, that's Dean," Dawn couldn't help but chuckle. "And he's not actually short," she corrected narrowing her eyes.

"Yah, well next to that Sasquatch brother of his, anyone would look short." Spike held back a snicker.

"You're such a jerk," she chided, a smile playing at the corners of her lips.

"I know," the blonde smiled. "I guess I should be headed back to the hotel before sunrise." Of course she couldn't forget the vampire limitations, if he didn't head out before sunrise he would be stuck there. Lately she was used to being around humans rather than vampires. In fact she was much less human than her usual company was now.

"Promise you'll call?" Her voice was soaked with an obvious sincerity.

"Of course, Little Bit," he assured her. "Maybe you'll let me visit from time to time?"

"I would like that a lot," her lips parted into a bright smile. "Wait- Didn't you have something important to tell me?" Dawn asked suddenly remembering their earlier phone conversation.

"Uh-" Spike looked suddenly nervous. "No, it's not important now."

"Oh...okay," she furrowed here eyebrows- slightly perplexed.

"Bye, Love." Spike leaned in and placed an affectionate kiss on her forehead. As he turned around to leave the hotel room the door swung open, followed by the Winchester brothers. Spike barely acknowledged them as he shut the door behind him. The fact that they had put her life in danger, in his eyes made them worth very little. He saw her as needing to be protected, while they knew better, Dawn was far from helpless.

"You're awake!" Sam was carrying a a few bags of groceries in his hand as he entered the room.

"Barely," she said playfully.

Dean reached into one of the grocery bags and pulled out two bottles of beer. He cracked a bottle open on the edge of the table and it popped off with a fizzing sound. He handed the open bottle to Sam and then did the same with a second bottle for himself.

"You had us worried," Dean walked over to her and sat down on the edge of the bed. The motion of him sitting on the bed sent a pain through her. This healing process was not going to be an easy one.

"Don't even get me started on worrying," Dawn glowered at him. "If you hadn't gone all heroic on me and gotten yourself stabbed than I wouldn't have had to lose half of my body mass in blood." Dawn cringed at the memory of nearly losing Dean, of looking at his near lifeless body in Sams' arms. She had been through seeing the ones she cared about hurt and she had even lost her sister before, but something about this was different. For once in her life she had the power to change the fate of the person she was losing. Even though she could have died and the world could have been ripped into another dimension-none of that mattered.

"Well I didn't risk my life for you so that you could nearly die yourself," Dean retorted and brought his beer bottle to his lips, tipping it back.

"Cas, did go pretty psycho on her with that knife, it looked a little like a slasher movie." Sam flopped onto the other bed and looked over at Dawn with concern. She was healing but they were still worried about her, losing that much blood would have killed most people.

"Thanks for the reminder, Sammie," Dawns features twisted into a disgusted expression. Remembering Castiel slicing at her arms vigorously, made her feel a bit queasy. The smell of blood would forever bring back the harsh memory. "I think Cas enjoyed it a bit too much. He kinda looked like the cookie monster going all crazy on my arms," the three of them chuckled in unison. She knew Castiel did not enjoy it, even in the least bit, but she joked about it nonetheless. The thought made her peer down at her arms which were cleaned and covered in white bandages. "And it seems like you came out of it pretty well," she said gesturing to Dean.

"Completely healed actually," Dean nodded sheepishly. He felt incredibly guilty seeing her so hurt because of saving his life, even though he had done the same thing for her. "Thanks to you."

"Well, thank you for saving my life in the first place." Her lips hooked into a smile so fragile, it appeared as if it would shatter.

"Anytime," Dean shot her a playful smirk.

"Are you guys at all concerned with the potential trouble our little fun filled night might have caused?" Sam's voice bore a grave undertone, although he was not anymore worried now than he usually was.

"What do you mean?" The tenacious brunette quickly turned her head and gave a questioning look. No one had exactly filled her in on the ramifications just yet, mostly because she had been unconscious.

"Cas told us that we might still have some problems to deal with in the future. We can't be sure what happened when he used your blood to save Deans life, but it was powerful magic." Sam took a relaxed gulp from his beer. He spoke as if he were reciting a list of potential movies playing that night, not the potential end of the world.

"Of course, nothing comes free," Dawn sighed. She was used to having to pay a price for everything, she had learned that lesson from being with the Scoobies. It seemed everything they did came at some kind of a cost, some much greater than others. She was prepared to pay whatever price she had to, to protect the people she cared about, they would do the same for her.

"Oh well," Dean shrugged his broad shoulders. "If we've got ourselves into trouble, that means it must be Tuesday."


	2. Bedtime Stories

"Who ate my sandwich?" Sam stared down at the empty sandwich wrapper on the table. "I just walked away for like two minutes and it was right here."

"Oops," Dean swallowed down the last bite of food in his mouth. "That was yours?" He gawked at Sam with a dopy look on his clearly guilty face.

"Yes, it was my sandwich," Sam glared at his brother. "Dude, do you ever stop eating?"

"Yes!" Dean answered quickly. "When I'm asleep."

"Here Sammie," Dawn walked across the room stifling her amused giggles. "Have mine, I'm not really hungry anyways." She handed him her roast beef sub that was still nicely wrapped in plastic, with a little red cow sticker holding it closed.

Dawn had trouble eating from random places they stopped at on the road lately. She had already gotten sick once from some bad meat and was not really excited about backwoods sub shops anymore. Sam and Dean however, seemed to have developed steel stomachs over the years of eating at whatever places were around.

"Chicken," Dean murmured under his breath.

"No, it's roast beef," Dawn wrinkled her forehead, her face a mirror of confusion. She was peering over her shoulder at Dean who was sitting on the hotel bed.

"No, I mean you're a chicken," Dean mocked. He chuckled to himself slightly amused at her reaction. "Afraid to get sick again?"

"Not everyone has the stomach of cow like you," she rolled her blue eyes back into her head dramatically. Even when Dawn was mocking him, she held herself with a confidence that seemed innate.

"It's okay Dawn," Sam sat down at the table with his newly acquired lunch. "This is sort of like the second grade mentality, he's being mean to the girl he has a crush on."

"Oh, lucky me," she scoffed sarcastically.

"You know, it's not so cute when you two gang up on me like that," Dean's bottom lip curled into a very subtle pout.

"Aw," Dawn giggled instantly in reaction. "I'm sorry." She patted him sympathetically on his rather large shoulders.

Dean reacted to the feel of her touch, even to the slightest touch. Maybe it was their unconsummated and still unspoken relationship that made everything so heightened. Things had clearly changed between them, they had expressed feelings for one another but never really figured out what it meant yet. The fact that they had nearly died for each other already put them clearly in the realm of caring for one another. It seemed every-time they tried to figure things out, someone or something came up from the shadows to ruin the moment. They were clearly on the cusp of something, but they never had a chance to discover what it was.

"So, are you two ready for a case?" Sam took a gulp from his beer as he leaned back in his chair.

"As always," Dean's voice resonated with an arid tone.

"Okay, well some small little town in Louisiana, called Hoggland Point-" Sam started to speak but was interrupted abruptly by Dean.

"Oh! Oh! Wait, let me guess...disappearances?" Dean cocked his head to the side with a playful smirk on his face. It was certainly not a big surprise when the case they were working on was thought suspicious because of multiple disappearances.

"Yeah, Dean," Sam nodded. "Child disappearances," he glowered at his big brother.

"Oh." A shamed Dean recoiled a bit. As hunters they worked to protect innocent people, but they still grew desensitized to hearing about the terrible things that happened to some of those people. When they heard about a child napping case it tended to strike a nerve slightly different than the others did. "So what makes you think this is a supernatural child napper and not just some run of the mill pervert?"

"Because each of the children that disappeared, were all insomniacs and had recently gone through bouts of not being able to sleep at all." Sam took another bite from his lunch, washing it down with his beer. For the Winchester brothers nothing accompanied food like a good beer.

"Okay, so to Hogwash Point it is then!" Dean stood up and brushed off his pants which still had crumbs on them from his earlier offense towards Sam's sandwich.

Dawn couldn't help but giggle in response to Dean getting the name of the town so incredibly wrong. Granted she herself had never heard of Hoggland Point, she realized Dean was just poking fun like usual. She couldn't help but find his crass and sometimes wildly inappropriate humor to be absolutely alluring. She had grown up around those personality types and she found some strange comfort in the raw honesty. If Dawn knew anything about who she was, she knew she was not a liar and she had little respect for those who were.

"Oh good, because I was getting way too used to the same motel room," Dawn sighed. She instantly turned around and went to go pack her things. It had been nice to be able to stay in the same motel room for more than a couple weeks time. She had been used to the traveling lifestyle of a hunter, but it was nice to have a much slower pace for a while. Even though she had enjoyed the relaxation, part of her was also excited to get back to hunting.

"I'll be right back," Sam stood up from his chair. "I have some laundry still in the dryer." He engulfed down another quick bite of his sandwich before heading to the motel laundry room.

Dawn and Dean continued to pack their clothes as they waited for Sam to get back. Things were rarely awkward between the two of them, but lately when they were left alone there was an instinctual urge to get their hands on each other. Although that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, they seemed to be completely incapable of talking about the situation between them. This was accompanied by the fact that every-time they locked-lips they were interrupted before things could get too far.

Dean continued to toss his clothes into a backpack checking to see how clean they were before he did so. He grabbed a green button up t-shirt and pulled it close to his face giving it a quick sniff.

"Oh man, that is rank," Dean cringed. "Smell that," he held the shirt out in front of Dawn's unwilling nose.

"Ew, you're disgusting!" Dawn whacked his arm away from her face instinctively. Before she knew what was happening Dean had grabbed her arm and pulled her into him in one swift jolt. His lips were on hers in an instant and his hands were pulling her into him urgently. Dawn of course complied with his advance and followed suit by tugging at his shirt desperately trying to pry it off. Dean tumbled backwards, pulling her onto the bed with him.

"You know," Dean spoke while Dawn began kissing at his neck. "We should probably talk about this," he sounded clearly phoney.

"Stop being such a girl," the brunette teased with a blithe grin.

Dawn was not in the mood for long emotional talks at the moment. With the past few weeks that they had endured the last thing she needed was to sit down and talk about her feelings. She knew very well how she felt about Dean, and those emotions certainly were not going anywhere. She also had a pretty well developed idea of how Dean felt about her. The fact that he had almost died to save her life and as of recently couldn't keep his hands off of her, gave her a bit of insight. She was rarely the insecure type and those insecurities were falling away the more time she spent with Dean.

Dawn finally pulled Dean's thin cotton t-shirt over his head and tossed it to the floor. She grew wide eyed at the site of his wonderfully chiseled form in front of her. Of course she had seen it before but not quite in this context and now she was allowed to gawk. They continued without really thinking about what they were doing, Sam would be back any minute to interrupt like usual. They were already getting frustrated by not having any alone time, and up until now they had not really told Sam what had happened between them. He just assumed that the recent thickness in the air was attributed to them nearly dying.

Whenever he interrupted them before, they were lucky enough to hear Sam before he entered the room. This instance they were not so fortunate, Sam opened the door getting himself an eyeful of his roommates. They were both shirtless but thankfully that was as far as the nudity went and Dawn still had her lacy white bra on.

"Whoa!" Sam stared at them with his mouth hanging open. Normally he would have turned around and left the room, but he was completely in shock at the site before him. He had known that the two of them were growing closer to admitting their feelings for each other, he had no idea they had already found a way of expressing those feelings. In response Dawn quickly crawled off of Dean and began searching for her shirt.

"Dammit Sammie," Dean growled clearly frustrated. "Why do you have to be such a cock block, huh? Just because you can't get any doesn't mean I'm supposed to suffer."

"Trust me," he uttered. "If I knew what I was walking into I wouldn't have come back." Sam rubbed his eyes vigorously, almost as if that would erase the vision that was now burning its way into his mind.

"Well, your superb timing says otherwise." Dean reached for his shirt which was laying crumpled on the floor.

"How was I supposed to know you were going at it? It's been almost a year of you two playing cat and mouse and dancing around your scary little feelings." Sam couldn't help but chuckle at the sheer awkwardness of the situation.

"Alright, you two, cut it out!" She reprimanded, pulling her shirt over her head. "We have a monster to go kill, no more bickering."

The both of them just fell silent like two children being scolded and then continued getting their things together. When they were finished they packed up the car and hit the road. When there was a case to solve they had little time to waste, too many lives could be in danger and there was always another case waiting after that one. The life of a hunter, always on the road and little time to rest. Both the brothers sat up front, Dean behind the wheel, while Dawn laid in the back seat for the start of the drive. When it was a long drive they would try and alternate the backseat for resting reasons. The drive to Louisiana was about 10 hours this time, give or take, depending on how fast they could drive.

A few hours into the road trip and the heat of the south had started to get to them. They had to make a specific stop for Dawn to change her heavy clothes to that of Summer clothing. Once the night fell on their trip and Dean was back at the wheel, his company had fallen asleep in their awkwardly uncomfortable car seats. Dean's eyes quickly glanced to the rear-view mirror, peering at Dawn sprawled out on her back across the length of the backseat. Her flimsy purple tank top had inched upward leaving her stomach completely bare, and her dangerously short, gray silk shorts left little to be desired. He couldn't help but get caught up in the site of her long legs, one bent to fit in the small space allotted, while the other leg was flopped over the back of the car-seat. He rubbed the exhaustion out of his eyes, grasping a hold of his thoughts which were threatening to run away with him. He reached for the radio controls, turning the music up so that he could distract himself from the one thing he couldn't seem to scratch his mind free of. As soon as he heard the music beaming from the stereo he began singing along enthusiastically.

" I can't get no satisfaction  
I can't get no satisfaction  
'Cause I try and I try and I try and I try  
I can't get no, I can't get no. "

"Dean!" Sam groaned, his voice oozed with annoyance at his brother for waking him from his slumber.

Dawn also woke to the sound Deans' voice echoing through the car. She couldn't bring herself to be irritated in the slightest by the sound of his singing rising her from her sleep. There were few things she enjoyed more than listening to someone whose voice she admired. She had an attraction to men with vocal talent, even if it was a bit raw like Deans' was. Because not everything in life that is beautiful is flawless, and she saw beauty in the flawed.

"How far out are we?" Dawn let out a tired yawn as she stretched her body across the backseat.

"Uh-" Dean fumbled, as his eyes flickered back and forth from the windshield to the rear-view mirror. "About an hour," he grasped the steering wheel with a death grip.

"Good! Too much longer in this car getting woken up by Justin Timberlake over here and I will go crazy," Sam said sarcastically as he stared out the window.

"Sorry, I forgot you need your beauty rest Sammie," Dean grinned.

"Ugh! You two get really bitchy on long car rides," Dawn huffed and sat up in her seat. She had bore the plight of living with two men for the past year and it was starting to get exhausting. There was absolutely nothing sexy about being in such close proximity, every second of every single day. She had thought living with the slayer was a challenge, but men were a completely different challenge altogether.

When Dawn looked at the clock on the dashboard, it read 6:30 am. Since it was morning and by the time they arrived at their destination the day would have already begun, that could only mean one thing. They would check into a hotel room, shower, get some breakfast and then they would leave immediately to probe the town for whatever answers they could find. There was a routine, she liked the feeling of a little routine in an otherwise hectic and unpredictable life. She also liked the unpredictable part too though.

* * *

Dawn had already showered and was driving the Impala back to the hotel. She had all their breakfast orders secured safely in the passenger seat. Dean allowed her to get behind the wheel once and a while, especially when he was unbelievably tired and she offered to wrangle up breakfast for everyone.

"Breakfast!" Dawn sounded as she entered the hotel room. Once she was inside she kicked the door shut behind her. Both dean and Sam arrived quickly in front of her like salivating dogs. "Men are so easy," she chuckled musically as she placed the coffee tray onto the table.

"Come on, were starving!" Dean could feel his stomach rumbling uncontrollably, a feeling he was not comfortable with at all.

"Alright, alright!" Dawn reached into the bags she was carrying. "Bagels...muffins." She placed the food, which was wrapped in plastic, onto the table as she announced what it was. "Some breakfast sandwiches," she cringed at the sheer grossness of what was mingled together inside the warm croissant. Before she could continue both of the brothers were attacking the food like ravenous animals. "I also got..." Dawn reached her arm into the very bottom of the bag pulling the last item out slowly. "A pie, if anyone is interested," she tried to stifle the giggles but it was hard as she caught a glimpse of Dean's reaction.

"Pie!" He shouted and grabbed the round dessert from her hands excitedly and scurried off to enjoy his breakfast.

"You are really no good for him, you cater to him too much." Sam shook his head playfully, speaking in between bites of his food.

"Well, I got you your favorite coffee," she grabbed the coffee from the tray and handed it to him. "And those nasty breakfast sandwiches you like, so stop griping."

Sam just chuckled in response and took a sip of his hot coffee. Dawn sat down next to him and began picking at a blueberry muffin. It was strange how most foods gave her a strong case of the "queasys" lately. Even foods that she normally enjoyed were making her feel nauseous, her choice of diet was growing narrower. She figured it was just from exhaustion and nearly dying twice in the same year that was causing her aversion to most foods. As long as she could find something to fill her growling tummy she was golden.

When they were finished eating, they dressed in the appropriate attire and drove to the first destination. It was a young couple whose son had gone missing in the last few days, and he fit the bill perfectly. So they headed through the small and seemingly quiet town to the house of the victims parents.

It was a decent little home, which was kept up nicely over the years. It was white with a sort of darker brown roof and was almost a perfect square. The yard was splendidly maintained with trimmed shrubs beside the front door, and a few little lawn ornaments aligned neatly beside the walkway. It was not completely set away from people, but there was a good sized hill that dipped down near the back of the house. The three of them walked up to the front door and Sam rang the door bell. Dawn never really got used to the way those two looked in their fancy FBI suites, it was like a shameful inside joke to her.

A frail woman with dusty blond hair came to the front door. There was a noticeably sullen look on her pale face. There was no doubt that she was the parent of a missing child, she wore it on her face and in the way she stood in the doorway. She was a pretty woman but her eyes were red and puffy and had large purple bags underneath them. She looked like she hadn't eaten a good meal or truly rested in days.

"Hello, Mrs. Annabelle Stevens is it?" Sam asked and the woman nodded. "I'm agent Calder and this is agent Clementine from the FBI." He flashed his badge but the woman clearly didn't care to pay close attention. "We're here to ask you a few questions about your son if that is alright?"

"Uh," the woman ran her frail hand through her hair. "I don't know." She shook her head and gave Dawn a confused look. "I didn't get your name?" Her voice rang with a thick southern accent.

"I'm Dawn Benz," she offered her hand to the woman. "I'm actually a grief counselor." Dawn smiled and took the woman's hand in between both of hers warmly.

"Uh...okay...y'all can come on in," she nodded and spun around making her way into her house.

"How do you do that?" Sam asked furrowing his eyebrows down at Dawn. He was clearly in awe at the way she made people trust her with such ease.

"People respond to warmth, Sam." She shot him an proud grin and tipped her head dramatically high.

Dawn had a way with others emotions, it had always come easy, like a hidden talent. Maybe she had picked it up from her family over the years, or maybe it had been from other experiences she had faced after she left home. Either way she was useful when it came to dealing with people.

"Agent Clementine?!" Dean glared at his brother clearly irritated.

"What? It just came out!" Sam shrugged his broad shoulder and held a smile from breaking at his lips.

"Come on!" Dawn hissed as she pushed them both through the doorway and into the house. The woman was sitting at a small round table and she was staring at her skinny hands. The three of them joined her around the table. There was an obvious thickness in the air of this house. It was always hard when asking someone questions about their dead or missing loved ones. There is a part of them that wants desperately to learn the answers, while another part just wants to bury themselves in their sadness. You never know what you will get from a grieving individual, so they had to be careful how they asked the questions.

"So, why are you guys here to investigate?" Annabelle's voice was dry as she tried not to pay to close attention to her words.

"We can't really say just yet," Dean leaned across the table.

"Mrs. Stevens," Sam started to speak, his tone clearly in work mode. "Can you tell us exactly what you told the police?"

"Uh," Annabelle took in a deep breath. Her face looked pained, as if she was trying not to cry. "Parker...that's my son. He was having trouble sleeping again. The doctors had diagnosed him with insomnia, so they gave him these pills that were supposed to help him get better." She wrinkled her forehead, still holding back the tears.

"Did the pills help at all?" Sam questioned.

"A little bit, I guess." The woman reached up and tucked a small piece of blond hair behind her ear. "But he started acting strange, like the dreams he was having were really bothering him and although he was sleeping the dreams were getting worse."

"Did he talk about these bad dreams?" Dean looked at the woman, his mind clearly running through everything she was saying. Dawn watched from across the table at the way the two of them handled themselves. There was something that awed her when she watched them work, they were pros at this.

"Yes, but it was hard to understand, he seemed so scared and confused," the water in her eyes started to puddle and slide down her cheeks.

"It's okay," Dawn reached out and held onto the woman's hand. She tried to allow the warmth and calmness to exude from her and to the woman she was touching.

"He talked about a monster and said the monster wanted him because he had been bad." She shook her head and crinkled up her nose. "That's all I can really remember that made any sense."

"When was the last time you saw him?" Dawn asked still stroking the woman's hand with her thumb.

"Just before the sun went down, I was making dinner." She looked down at the table and her eyes went vacant as she recalled the story. "He asked if he could go play down by the river," she looked at their blank faces and realized she needed to explain. "It is right down the hill behind the house, and normally I can watch him play. All the kids who live on this block play together. He knows to stay away from the water, but the police couldn't find a body so..." As she spoke the words she was suddenly cut off by the sound of her own tears. Dawn quickly grabbed a box of tissues that was on a table next to the and handed it to the distraught Annabelle.

"It's alright Annabelle. Were going to do everything we can to figure this out okay?" Dawn patted her gently on the shoulder. Dawn couldn't help but feel a pull at her heart every-time she saw someone crying over the loss of someone they loved. She knew the ache of that pain well and she grew no less sympathetic just because she had seen it many times before. It was not like her to stop caring just because there was a multitude of pain in front of her, she got that from her sister.

* * *

When they arrived back at the hotel they dove into research like usual. They had a few details that should be enough to figure out exactly what they were looking for and if it was even supernatural. Dean had his doubts, but both Dawn and Sam felt a spur of intuition guiding them towards this case.

Research was probably the most relaxed and yet stressful part of any hunt. Although it was certainly Sam's niche, Dawn was also used to being research girl back when she was a member of the Scooby gang. So the three of them took whatever information they had and tried to turn it into something real as fast as they could.

"Guys, I think I found something in Dad's journal," Sam beckoned. "This Raw Head and Bloody Bones creature, that apparently eats naughty children and lives near the water." He quickly turned to the computer to begin further research. His fingers running along the keys with loud 'click clacking' sounds.

"What's the lore say?" Dean asked.

"Apparently, he was a creature that was a beloved pet of an old witch, some hunters butchered him, which infuriated the old witch and she used her magic to raise her pet from the dead making him powerful enough to avenge his own death. He killed the hunters and is said to dwell by water and nab naughty children to eat them." Sam took a breath before continuing. "He could possibly have acquired body parts and used them to make itself look different and stronger, so no one really knows what he looks like. Accept to say he is strong and crouches down over his pile of bones, he has large claws and looks like a skinned ogre type creature."

"So how do we kill this cuddly little teddy bear?" Dean asked nonchalantly.

"I have no idea," Sam replied. His eyes moved back and forth across the computer screen, the bright blue light reflecting on his face. He continued to search through the internet, hoping to find some clue to how to kill the beast.

"Dawn, you ever heard of this thing before?" Dean asked looking over at Dawn who was staring wide-eyed at him.

"When I was a kid," she nodded. "My sister use to tell me, that if I didn't sleep it would get me." She looked down at her hands nervously, and then back up to the both of them who were staring at her waiting. "She use to sort of sing this song, or poem, or whatever it was, and I still can't forget it."

"Fire away Shakespeare," Dean gestured for her to continue.

Dawn took a deep breath before she continued;

"Raw Head and Bloody Bones

It eats its' supper with your moans

Don't make a sound, don't make a peep

It collects the children who don't sleep

It's merciless and it's cruel

It''s not your average ghost or ghoul

It eats the souls of naughty brats

It grinds their bones and gobbles up their fats

Glance ye not at this deadly beast

He finds your blood a delicious feast

Don't ever walk the waters edge alone

For there lives Raw Head and Bloody Bones"

"Well, that's a cute little bed time story to tell a child." Deans' eyes were vast as he stared at Dawn in shock. He couldn't imagine why her sister, who she talked so loving of would tell her such a story. How could someone want to traumatize a child that way?

"Yeah, it kind of scared the crap out of me," she gave them a halfhearted smile. Dawn didn't share with them that Buffy had told her the story to scare her for a reason. Her sister wanted her to be afraid of those things that go bump in the night, wanted her to stay safe in her room. She was never much for hiding though, and it always posed a serious problem for the slayer.

"It collects the children who don't sleep," Sam echoed the words with a stern look on his face. "Like children who have insomnia," he reflected. It was obvious to him now that they had the right monster, every word she spoke made sense to the case.

"It fits the bill," she sighed. Dawn ran her fingers through her long brown hair anxiously.

"Perfectly," Sam nodded assuredly and slammed his laptop computer shut.

"Time to suit up?" Dean asked loosely, making it more of a statement than a question.

"Fine by me!" Dawn hopped to her feet as quickly as she spoke.

"Wait a second!" Sam exclaimed, tossing his hands in the air. "We have no idea how to kill this thing."

"This ought to work!" Dean's lips blemished with a sheepish grin as he held up his weapon of choice, his Colt 1911.

"What if it doesn't?" Sam suggested slightly irritated.

"Then I'll chop it into a million itty bitty pieces." Dawn smirked as she unsheathed a dagger from inside her boot. Her weapons of choice were various blades of all shapes and sizes.

"Listen- Bonnie and Clyde- we can't go in there all guns a blazing before we know how to kill this thing for real." Sam chided his roommates rashness.

"We have enough information to know where to look for him," Dean scoffed at his brother. "We can just take it slow and see what we find by that river out behind the victims house."

"Alright, sounds good." Sam nodded in agreement.

The hunters changed into their fighting attire and packed on their weapons. The plan was to do recon and check out the area; but like any hunter when they got a whiff of something good it was obvious they were not stopping there. It was just what they did, it was a part of who they were. They were hunters.

* * *

There was a strong odor that resembled that of rotting flesh rising from the edge of the water. The three hunters slowly searched the waterway for any signs of the monster and possibly the missing child. Besides the rancid odor which they guessed was a recent development, the river was beautiful. Although, it seemed dangerously silent and void of animals, which the three of them took notice to.

"Something smells nasty!" Dawn wrinkled her nose.

"Smells like overdue beef and curdled milk." Dean sniffed the air as he recited the different similarities in scent.

"Lovely!" Dawn tightened her lips into a thin line as she thought about the smell rising from the edge of the river and compared it to Deans descriptive prose.

"It seems to be coming from over there." Sam pointed in the direction of the smell with a disgusted expression. "Let's check it out," his voice held a clear sound of displeasure. It was obvious that going closer to the putrid scent was the last thing he wanted to do.

The other two followed as Sam led the way towards the smell, which promised to be coming from their monster. Usually people did not let their children play by rivers that smelled of pure rot like this one did. So they realized it must be something that was attributed to the arrival of a child napping beast.

As they walked Dean caught site of a small dirty item that appeared to be a tattered shoe. He lifted it from the ground and shook off the dirt. It was just as he suspected, the shoe of a small boy child. It was red and white and had a little picture of spider-man on the side. The fact that it still appeared to be slightly fresh, led to the assumption that it was their victims shoe. This could be a good thing or a very bad thing, they wouldn't know until they found the monsters lair.

"Probably Parker's shoe," Dawn's sighed. Her eyes were drenched in grief as she ducked her head away from the child's object in Dean's hands.

"Gotta grow tougher skin, Tiger." Dean teasingly patted her on the top of the head. He meant it purely as a joke. Dean knew that Dawns connection to the victims was a part of who she was.

"Ah man!" Sam groaned as he swatted the flies that were swarming in front of him. "Guys I think I found its lair and it smells absolutely aweful."

"This should be fun," Dawn raised her eyebrows and walked over to the entrance of the potential "Raw-heads" den. It was a narrow hole in the side of a hill that almost seemed completely natural. The scent was clearly wafting from the entrance of the hole, so that meant it was where they were going.

"I just look forward to the days when I get to bathe myself in the stench of a child eating beast." Dean spoke sarcastically with an artificial smile on his handsome face. He tossed the shoe into the grass next to him before walking towards the entrance of the lair. "I wonder what excitements await us inside!" Dean was first to enter, grasping his gun firmly in his hand, a flashlight held in the other.

"Into the bog of eternal stench," Sam exclaimed jestingly.

"You are such a dork!" Dean echoed back to his brother from inside the narrow passageway.

Dawn giggled as she followed Dean inside, Sam trailing behind her. She found comfort in the sometimes nerdy humor that Sam could posses. She understood almost all of his jokes and was amused by the fact that she could have just as easily come up with them.

The smell became almost unbearable as they walked deeper through the tunnel. Dawn noticed the tunnel began to grow wider as they walked and it was swiftly opening into a much wider den. As they came to what appeared to be the mouth separating the tunnel and the den, Dean was caught up by something underneath his feet. He stumbled to the ground, still grasping his gun while losing hold of his flashlight.

"What the hell is this!?" Dean howled as he felt his hands immersed in something thick and gooey.

"Hold on," Dawn whispered. She scurried towards the flashlight and lifted it from the ground quickly pointing it towards Dean. His hands were covered in a thick dark red substance that was much too thick to be blood. The goo also seemed to be the source of the overwhelming aroma.

"Oh, awesome!" He groaned as he tried to wipe the substance off of his hands as best he could.

"Quite being such a baby and stand up!" Sam tried to stifle his laughter as he reached out to help Dean.

As Sam helped Dean to his feet, Dawn could hear something from behind her. The noise sounded somewhat like a low snarling. She quickly spun around and waved the light towards the direction of the sound, which she realized may not have been the wisest of ideas. The site before her quickly made her breath catch inside of her throat. Few sites shocked her but this was the last thing she expected to see, it was like nothing she had ever witnessed before.

The first thing she noticed were the large set of snarling teeth, which were dripping with drool and possibly blood. The face seemed to bare a long snout and frightening dark eyes. The top of his head had two thick horns. The disgusting creature was knelt on the ground over what appeared to be a pile of bloody bones. His body was hunched and looked almost like a four legged beast; accept for a set of front claws that clearly could not be walked on because of their dramatic length. The most awe-inducing thing about the creature was the fact that its entire body looked almost like the skin had been removed completely. Each line in the muscles of the beast were visible, the surface was a bright red tone. This was clearly their monster, this was Raw-Head and Bloody Bones.

Raw-Head had now turned it's large head to stare at the barer of the bright light in its face. It began snarling even louder and in an instant all three hunters were dangerously aware of Raw-Heads presence as well.

"Uh, guys," Dawn's voice seemed sturdy, just slightly anxious. "I think I found our bad guy."

In an instant each of them were clutching their weapons in front of them, ready for the beast to pounce at any moment. Sam had grabbed his own flashlight from his pocket and was also clenching it tightly. While they were preparing for the fight to begin, a dull and muffled sound arose from a nook in the pit. Trying to keep focus on Raw-Head, Dawn peered out of the corner of her eyes towards the direction of the noise. She was shocked to find a small boy bound up and tossed in the corner with his mouth covered.

"I'll get the boy, you guys get the ugly ass creature." She awaited their response and the brothers nodded in agreement.

Dawn leaped from the edge of the entrance to the pit and watched as Sam and Dean did the same. The skinny brunette whipped around and began a sprint towards the boy. While she ran she stumbled over various objects that seemed very unsavory, but she just ignored them and continued towards the child in front of her. She never really liked leaving the brothers alone to fight but it was a foolish thought because they could handle themselves perfectly fine before she came along. Dawn always had a desire to protect those she cared for, even when it seemed irrational.

She arrived in front of the boy and crouched down next to him. His face was filled with terror as he stared up at Dawn, his eyes pleading for her help. She looked down at his bindings and noticed he was wearing only one shoe. The other shoe was a red and white, with a picture of spider-man on it. This was the same little boy whose shoe they had just found outside of the lair.

"Parker?" Dawn whispered as she reached for the ties wrapped around him. The boy nodded in reply, as he stared up at her in shock. "It's okay your mother sent us to rescue you. I'm gonna get you out of here." She unsheathed a small knife from the case on her leg and began slicing at the ties. She could hear noises coming from behind her, but her objective was to save the boy at the moment.

Once she was finished untying Parker she slid her knife back into its rightful place. Dawn realized that the boy was clearly lethargic from lack of much food. She lifted him from the ground and he quickly wrapped his little legs around her waist. He nestled his head into her neck feeling instantly safe in her arms. She could feel herself smile slightly, she was thankful that they could save at-least one child.

While Dawn had been rescuing the boy, Sam and Dean had their hands full with Raw-Head. They had underestimated the speed of the creature and before they could do much of anything, it was doing circles around them. Sam was the first to get a shot at it, while Dean tried to keep it distracted. Sam fired the gun just as Raw-Head swung its' rather large claw towards his brother. The beast got in a quick swipe which knocked Dean's weapon from his grasp. Before the beast could do much damage the bullet struck him in the meat of his thick muscular arm. This only further angered Raw-Head, causing it to charge towards Sam in one very electric movement.

Dean tried to find his gun while Raw-Head was charging towards Sam in a motion that was almost invisible to them. It was on top of him in an instant and Dean decided to charge the beast instead of continue searching for his weapon. As he was running to his brothers rescue he heard a loud gun shot, which was quickly followed by a second shot. The sound stopped Dean instantly in his tracks, his mind tried to wrap around where the shot had come from.

"Wanna help me get this thing off of me!?" Sam grumbled from underneath the beast.

When Dean heard his brother's voice he felt a sudden wave of relief wash over him. He rushed to help Sam as he watched him struggling to get the heavy body off of himself. Dean grabbed a hold of the creatures shoulders and began tugging it to the side. It hit the ground next to Sam with a disgusting squishing sound, the blood began oozing from the wound making a puddle next to them.

"You alright?" Dean asked offering a hand to his brother who was still lying on his back.

"Yeah, just a few scratches." He grasped Dean's hand and climbed to his feet. "That thing was fast," Sam sniveled.

"Nicely done guys," Dawn smiled as she approached the carcase. It was nice to finally accomplish a job without much effort, this was certainly one of their easiest cases. Which she realized only meant the next one would be much more of a challenge, that was just how things worked. "Lets get this boy home." She stroked the boys matted, dirty hair with her fingers.

"And miss the lovely scenery," Dean waved an arm towards the dead body. As he waved his arm he felt a pain shoot through the wound that he had just acquired. "Ouch!"  
"Seems like you guys need some patching up too."

Dawn looked the two of them over quickly realizing they had both gained a few scratches from their fight. Which only meant that she would be playing doctor later on. The three of them were skilled in more occupations than anyone should be, but going to the hospital just wasn't an option for them. There were too many nosy people who would ask where they acquired such strange looking wounds, and you can only feign bear attacks so many times. When it seemed the injuries were too severe for them to take care of themselves they would see a doctor. More often than not they could take care of it themselves. They had more scars than any normal person could handle, in more ways than one.

* * *

They took the boy home after they cleaned him up a bit and made sure there were no serious wounds. The reunion between Parker and his parents was a real tearjerker. It really was great for them to bring good news to the families once and a while. The boy was surprisingly receptive to being home and it appeared that the short time he was there wouldn't cause him too much damage.

After they took Parker home the three of them headed back to their hotel room. It was time for Dawn to begin damage repair on the brothers. What they considered to be a few minor scratches, most people would consider a serious wound. After repairing the few wounds Sam had with little complaint, he was laying in the hotel bed. Dean was next and he was being much less accommodating.

"Sam didn't whine like this, now stop being such a baby!" Dawn rolled her eyes as she tried to clean the large wound on Dean's arm.

"Well mine is worse," he pouted.

"Not at all," Dawn scoffed. "If you keep moving all over the place I can't properly stitch this when it comes time, now sit still!"

"You would make a terrible doctor." He pouted, jetting out his bottom lip dramatically.

"Well I am not a doctor, but if you keep moving you are going to get this needle through your arm...and I mean much deeper than it is meant to go!" The brunette shot Dean a temperamental look, holding the needle in between her fingers.

"Cut me a break here." He continued his attempts with the over-dramatic pouting routine. More than anything he was just being playful with her.

"Alright fine," her lips held a gentle and forgiving smirk.

Dawn placed the needle gently on the table in front of her that was covered with a white cloth. She stood up and walked towards the radio that was on the nightstand and grabbed a CD from the drawer. She placed the CD in the player and clicked a few buttons until she reached the song she wanted. She pressed the play button on track number seven on her mix CD and _Nothing Else Matters _by Metallica began playing from the speakers. She spun around on her heels and walked past Dean who was sitting on the bed with a smile on his face. He loved that she seemed to know everything about him. Dawn knew how Metallica seemed to be the outlet for calming Dean down.

"Where are you going? You can't just leave me like this!" Dean raised one eyebrow and grasped Dawn's arm.

"The bathroom," she narrowed her blue eyes at him. "You ruined my sterile technique...well, as sterile as I was going to get it. So now I have to go wash my hands...again!" She used her hands as she chided him, waving them back and forth with each raise in her voice.

Dawn quickly stomped into the bathroom, obviously aggravated and washed her hands thoroughly. She made her way back into the hotel room and sat down next to Dean who was singing along with the music. She reached for the needle once more and brought it close to the wound she was trying to repair.

"Now please sit still," she demanded coolly. Just as she was about to begin stitching the wound the phone rang making her jolt back in shock. "Will someone please just cut me a damn break here?!"

"You're cute when you're mad," Dean chuckled.

Dawn reached for the telephone with a scowl on her face. She realized that this meant she was going to have to wash her hands for at least the third time in the last half hour. It had never taken so much energy to stitch a simple injury. She had done this plenty of times but the continuing interruptions were compelling her to shove the needle into a random demon's temple.

"You made me ruin my sterile technique...AGAIN! So you better have a really good reason for interrupting me, whoever the hell you are!?"

"Good evening to you too, Dawn." Bobby's slightly familiar voice was coming from the phone. "Sorry for ruining your sterile technique, but I have another case for you. That is, if you three are up for it."

"What is the problem?" Dawn quickly relaxed her tone as she released a loud breath from her lungs.

"Cats!" Bobby replied hoarsely, evoking complete silence from the usual chatterbox on the other end of the phone-line.


	3. Something Familiar

Dawn sighed as she stuffed a few pieces of clothing into her bag aggressively. They had just finished their last case and they were already getting ready to jump back into the Impala once again. The blood from their wounds hadn't even finished drying yet. She was more than drained from the last few weeks and although this was her job, she had too many other things filling her thoughts. It felt like she was neglectfully ignoring all of the problems in her life, and having little time to rest was not going to help that situation at all.

Dawn looked up to see Sam towering above her as she knelt down on the floor. He quickly sat on the edge of the bed, maybe so she didn't have to crick her neck to talk to him. He had a slightly concerned look on his features and his brow was creased into a hard line. Dawn just remained where she was, waiting for him to speak.

"Dean went to get us some coffee from the hotel lobby." Sam spoke as he ran his large fingers through his shaggy brown hair.

"And?" She asked, getting quickly to the point. She wasn't much for beating around the bush, especially with Sam or Dean. They knew each other well enough that they didn't need to hassle with small talk.

"What makes you think there is an 'and'?" Sam narrowed his eyes, half smiling at her. She always had an amusing way of reading the expressions on their faces.

"Come on, Sam," she tilted her head to one side.

"Alright," he chuckled. "I just wanted to ask, how you are doing?"

"I'm fine," Dawn assured him. "Great actually!" She quickly followed her words with an exaggerated grin. "Why do you ask?"

"Well things have been hectic lately, and with what's happened with you and Dean..." Sam hesitated. "What is going on between you and Dean exactly?"

"What you know, is about as much as I know," she sighed. "We haven't really talked about it."

"Oh," he answered slightly surprised. "Are you alright with that?"

"For now," she shrugged. "And don't blame Dean. It is just as much my fault, maybe more so, that we haven't talked about it." She quickly shot him a look that told him not to pester Dean about this and to simply leave it be. Sam had a tendency to blame his brother whenever Dawn and him got into an argument, and she expected it was only going to get worse. This time she wasn't about to let him take the blame when it was more her fault than it was his, she was perfectly aware of that fact.

"Alright then," He smirked. "So, a case about cats huh?" He asked, quickly changing the subject.

"Kinda weird, right?" Dawn wrinkled her forehead. She zipped up her bag and rose to her feet.

"Yeah, but that is nothing new." Sam made a sarcastic groaning noise. He had witnessed some pretty strange things in his lifetime as a hunter. Although the cases seemed to grow weirder over time, he was no longer surprised by much of anything.

"I guess you're right," she agreed. Dawn stretched her arms up in the air and let out a loud yawn.

It had been an exhausting few weeks and all Dawn wanted was a break. She just kept telling herself that if she pushed through this case maybe she could get some time to herself, and maybe she could deal with her unresolved issues. She couldn't complain too much though, they had endured little rest but at least these cases weren't tied to an impending apocalypse. As far as they knew at the moment, none of them were.

She pushed her silky brown hair off of her forehead. Taking in a deep thoughtful breath, she tried to steady herself. She could deal with this -all of it- and whatever the world wanted to throw her way. She was plenty capable of dealing with a laundry list of problems and this was absolutely no different. Although this was filled with more emotional issues than she was welcomed to, she could handle it.

Dawn was caught off guard by the sound of the hotel door swinging open. Dean stood in the doorway with one too many coffee containers in his hands, and all Dawn could foresee was an unfortunate accident about to take place. She rushed to his side as he fumbled with the coffee's and the door. She reached for the coffee just before Dean began to lose balance. Thankfully she was in time to rescue him from falling and of course more importantly to rescue the coffee. She opened the top to the coffee container in her hand and gave it a quick sniff.

"This one is yours Sammie." She reached out to hand Sam the coffee that clearly smelled of vanilla and cream.

"Thanks." Sam grabbed the coffee from the brunettes long fingers.

"And this one is..." Dawn opened another coffee container and proceeded to smell the contents. "Definitely Deans." She scowled and handed the black coffee back to Dean and he handed her the coffee in his hands, which by default had to be hers. She guzzled down the contents without much concern to how hot it was. Just the smell of the fresh coffee gave her a jolt of energy. Coffee was like a hunters drug, along with any kind of energy supplement you could find that might replace much needed sleep. Although nothing measured up to the effects of a full nights rest, for more than one night in a row.

"So where is this place where heading again?" Dean asked and then took a loud gulp from his black coffee.

"Hertford, North Carolina," she replied dryly. "It's about eighteen hours, give or take." Dawn hated the thought of another long drive, but at least it meant she could get some rest in the car. She had gotten used to sleeping in uncomfortable places and although it was not ideal she was certainly not complaining. At this point she would make a bed on cement if it meant she could sleep.

"Damn, another long road trip," Dean grumbled.

"Yeah, and your such a joy to be with on long car rides." Sam rolled his eyes at the thought of another fun filled road trip with his older sibling.

"Alright you two," she miffed. "If I have to, I will resort to violence to get you both to shut up!" Dawn lifted a weapons case from the floor and handed it to Dean. "Now start packing the car so we can get out of here."

"Yes, mam." Dean gave her a sharp nod and a wry smirk. "I suppose that means you're going to explain the details of this cat case later than?" He mused at his own use of alliteration.

"Fine," she rolled her eyes, trying to hold back her grin.

They went through the usual routine of packing up the car with their clothing and more importantly their weapons. It seemed since Dawn had joined the team she had brought with her more weapons than they were used to. Maybe it came from living with the slayer and the always full weapons chest that was in the house. She felt naked without a dagger sheathed at her thigh or some kind of weapon to protect herself. It used to be a stake that held a feeling of safety, but as of lately they faced less of vampires and more of everything else.

The three hunters were hoping to drive through the eighteen hour drive without having to make a stop for rest. They only wanted to stop for food and bathroom breaks but they were prepared to stop if it was necessary. Dean had the ability to push through just about anything and so most likely he would force himself to finish the drive and get this case over and done with as soon as possible. He wanted the opportunity to have the long awaited talk that Dawn and him needed. There was also the hopes of getting his hands on her without his brother graciously interrupting.

After about eight hours had passed, they were a little less than halfway through their journey. Dean was at the wheel and Dawn was in the passenger seat giving Sam his chance to rest more comfortably. They had stopped to fill the car with much needed snacks for the ride and were still hoping to finish the drive without stopping at a hotel. There was an obvious thickness in the air as Dean worked through his thoughts. He gripped the steering wheel and looked over at Dawn from the corner of his eyes. She had her long legs up on the dashboard, which would warrant most people a swift smack to the skull, but not her. She was studying the map intently, while she sipped from a small container of orange juice. He could tell, that although she continued to do her job as usual, she was growing weary from the ongoing cases. It probably didn't help that she had nearly died recently and had to continue on like nothing had happened. Super healing or not, it was still draining to go through all she had and still not get a break. Dean was strongly considering declining any cases for some time after this one. He knew she needed a break and there was no way she was going to tell them that, so he had to make the decision for her. She was so much like him, she would push herself further than she was capable of going. They were just the kind of people who would allow themselves to bend until they could bend no more. The bad thing was, they never seemed to reach a breaking point.

"So what exactly is in Hertford, and what does it have to do with cats?" Dean kept his eyes focused on the road as he spoke. Intent on leading the conversation in a very specific direction, but finding it hard to do so. He had never been so comfortable with anyone, like the way he was with Dawn, but for once it was actually hard to find the right words.

"The only thing I know right now is that some really unusual stuff has been going on with the cats in the town." She folded the map that was in her lap neatly and placed it next to her. "Some cases they have been attacking people and running away from their homes. Apparently they have also been grouping together and just all around creeping the hell out of everyone in Hertford."

"Creepy cats. Yeah, that sounds like the kind of case we would get." He chuckled to himself and shook his head.

"We'll figure it out, like we always do." Dawn yawned and leaned back in her seat more comfortably.

"Hopefully when were done, you and I can have some actual time to ourselves." Dean was instantly pleased with his smooth diversion of the conversation.

"If wishes were horses," she mumbled under her breath.

"Huh?" Dean raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Oh...I just mean that would be nice," she responded with an amused giggle.

"Just try and stay out of trouble during this case and maybe we can relax for a bit." His tone was playful, since they both knew that he got into just as much trouble as she did.

"You mean, not take a case for a while?" Dawn wrinkled her forehead and looked over at Dean who was intently focused on the road. His eyes were drooping a bit and she could tell that he was tired.

"Not too long, just enough time to get rested." It sounded like a great idea, accept he was not planning on spending the entire time resting.

"I suppose we could," she shrugged. She narrowed her eyes, mulling over the idea. "I mean nothing has been apocalypsy lately. As long as nothing serious comes up, some down time might be nice." A smile rose across her face as she quickly began warming up to the idea.

"Good," Dean yawned.

"Want me to take over behind the wheel?" Dawn asked her voice suddenly raising an octave or two. Just the thought of some time off, and some time alone with Dean was instantly making her feel better. Maybe this exhaustion was more emotional than anything else.

"No. No, I'm good," he ran his hand down his face and slapped his cheek a couple times.

"No, you're not," she uttered. "Pull over before I take my dagger to the dashboard."

"Fine," Dean forced back a smile. He knew it was an idle threat but it was enough to make him pull over. When Dawn demanded something people around her had a way of reacting quickly. It may have had something to do with her being an age old mystical energy force, that caused an innate sense of power. Or maybe it was something else all-together different.

Dean pulled the Impala over, the headlights clearing the way through the edge of the dirt road. He ran around the front of the car, while Dawn decided to crawl across the center console with ease. The rest of the drive seemed to go by much faster as they continued to take turns with the seating arrangements.

* * *

When they first pulled up to Hertford, it instantly held no menace in the site. It seemed like a perfectly pleasant quiet town, but looks had a tendency to mislead. The downtown area seemed much quieter than it should be for the time of day they had arrived. There were a row of stores and offices, as they took their time driving down the street and taking in their surroundings. In an instant the easy view changed to something suspicious. They saw a middle-aged woman, with light brown hair walking across the street a little ways in front of them. The woman instantly had a look of fear on her face as she stared, wide-eyed, a few feet in front of where she had stopped dead in her tracks. When Dawn looked towards the direction of the woman's stare, she saw a small black cat standing in the road. The woman spun around and ran in the opposite direction with unbelievable speed.

"Wait! Stop the car!" Dawn demanded to Dean who was now in the drivers seat. He complied with her demands and put on the breaks as fast as he could. They had learned not to hesitate when one of them gave an order like that.

Dawn quickly jumped out of the car and walked towards the edge of the sidewalk. She kept her distance from the cat since she had no idea what it might do, or how it might react to her presence. She looked down at the cat who now had its eyes on her intently. Dawn remained very still, when she looked down at the small animal, she saw no threat in it's eyes.

"Hi, Kitty," she beckoned softly. The black cat which had been sitting down was now rising to its feet and was starting to walk towards her.

"Here kitty, kitty" Dean called to the animal as he stepped out of the car. In reaction the cat started running around the sidewalk in fear. It ran right past Dean who quickly jumped backwards over the hood of his car, and let out an embarrassing squeal.

"Nice job!" Dawn snarled tossing her arms into the air. "I almost had it!"

"Oh, what are you the cat whisperer now?" He spat sarcastically, his mouth twisting.

"Dean what the hell was that?" Sam half-chuckled as he opened the car door. He was slightly irritated that his brothers rash actions had possibly lost them a lead on their case. It wasn't the first time that a potential lead was less than human and it certainly would not be the last.

"It was a black cat!" He hollered. "It was about to cross my path. I don't need anymore bad luck."

"Let's just see if we can find anyone to talk to around here." Sam suggested as he shut the car door behind him.

"I guess I'll park the car," Dean said with a loud huff. His mood was instantly declining since they arrived in Hertford. He was obviously not in a social mood and Sam thought it best that he was not around people for the time being. He had already screwed up one potential lead and the last thing they needed was another mistake.

"Alright, Sam and I can start looking around," she nodded.

Sam and Dawn headed for the first place that seemed to have a few people inside. There was one store that was called "Greg's 5-10-25¢ Store". The view of the outside gave a very historical feel to it and it was clear this town had a past. It seemed promising so they entered the store in hopes of finding a few people to give them the answers they needed. Inside there were plenty of antiques and gifts and even a few people shopping.

It was a nice store, one that reminded her of Sunnydale in some strange way. The thought of where she grew up brought an instant flurry of memories and unwanted emotions. It had been a while since she had seen Buffy, she truly did miss her. She wondered how she was doing? Had she changed her hair? Did she have any new developments in the romance department? Dawn realized that at some point she needed to talk to her sister, and all of the other Scoobies. She let out a noticeable huff and tried to snap herself out of her distractions and back into focus.

They caught site of a young girl working at the counter and both went straight for her without hesitation. The girl instantly gave a broad and indiscreet smile to Sam, when she saw Dawn she instantly ducked her head to hide red cheeks.

"Hello mam, were with animal control and were just here to ask you a few questions if you have the time?" Dawn tried to stay on task while still sounding professional. Even though she was good with compassion, she much preferred the slicing and dicing to this professional act they had to put on.

"Um, sure." The attractive girl with platinum blond hair nodded in hesitant reply.

"We are here about the recent cat complaints," Sam cringed at the way the alliteration sounded. This was becoming an issue, first it was Dean, now him. So far Dawn seemed unfazed by the recent word sickness.

"Oh, yeah," the girl suddenly perked up. "I heard about all that but I haven't really been involved in anything, and I don't go out much." She bit her bottom lip and recoiled a bit at her own announcement.

"Excuse me," a woman announced her presence from a few feet away.

Both Dawn and Sam turned their heads to see who it was. It was an older woman with slightly graying hair. The woman was short and chubby with a warm welcoming face. She was walking towards them and they were calmly awaiting her next move. There was something seemingly kind about the woman, but they knew that meant absolutely nothing. More often than not they had been deceived by appearances and it had made them a bit more weary towards overly innocent looking strangers.

"Did you say you are here about what has been going on with the cats lately?" The woman's voice was filled with honey as she stood in front of the two hunters.

"Yes mam, were from animal control," Dawn nodded calmly. "Is there anything you can tell us?"

"Oh, yes, yes!" She singsonged. "My neighbor told me her cat has been really scaring her. Rufus- that is her cat- has been sitting on the edge of her bed staring her down until she becomes so uncomfortable she has to leave the room. Many of our friends and neighbors have been attacked and said the cats seemed to enjoy tasting their blood." He voice grew a few octaves higher as she reached the high points of her story. "My own kitties have been acting mighty strange as well. Just the other day Tootsy snarled at me when I tried to feed her, her dinner. Then she jumped on the dinner table and started eating my dinner. The rest of the kitties haven't been acting as strange as her but they all seem to be grouping together and being very indifferent towards me. Normally they are all over me looking for cuddles." She shook her head clearly upset.

"Is there anyway we could possibly stop by later and get a look at your cats?" Sam asked.

"Oh, of course!" The woman replied with a gentle smile. "I am Gracie Carlton, I can give you my number and address." She reached into her tan leather purse and pulled out a notebook and a pen. She scribbled down some information and tore the page from her book quickly handing it to Sam. Dawn also wrote down their cell number for the woman just in case of an emergency.

"Thank you so much Mrs. Carlton," Dawn smiled reaching out her hand to the woman.

"No, please, call me Gracie," she offered shaking Dawn's hand gently.

"Thank you Gracie," she nodded. "I'm Dawn. We will get in contact with you soon."

The two of them turned around to leave the store with the information in hopes of using it towards research. The woman was charming and extremely helpful. They had been lucky this time, usually a case without a good lead was hard to piece together. When they opened the exit door Dean was standing in front of them his eyes wide.

"What happened?" Dawn furrowed her brow in reaction to his confusing expression. He seemed unscathed but he was certainly not acting as if all was fine.

"I don't wanna talk about it right now," he snapped. "Did you find anything out?"

"Should be enough information to do research," Sam replied with a nod.

"Good, let's go somewhere to do research so we can get out of this butt-hole town." Dean was clearly not in the best of moods so neither Dawn nor Sam were willing to test his limits at the moment.

"I think I saw a cheap motel down the street, if you guys wanna avoid paying I am sure we could break in for a few hours at least." The seemingly innocent brunette shrugged, and it was obvious she was nothing of the sort.

"A woman after my own heart," Dean clutched his chest and his lips nearly touched the edges of a smile. What seemed like an impossibly bad mood began to fade with his cheerful realization.

"Come one," she chuckled and began walking down the street.

* * *

The three occasional criminals subtly broke into a motel room that was obviously vacant. They had little time to argue over wasting money and this seemed like the best plan. It was clear Dean was not making instant friends with this town and they were hoping to solve the case quickly. There was also the thought placed firmly in the back of both Dean and Dawn's minds that there was a lovely prize awaiting them at the end of this case. It was giving Dawn a sense of ease, while at the same time making Dean extremely antsy.

Dawn leaned back in her chair and took a slow, deep breath from the air conditioned room. She tipped her neck back feeling a gust from the AC's cool air waft across her body. She was leaning dangerously back in her chair when suddenly she heard an excited Sam holler with joy and it nearly caused her to fall out of her seat. Thankfully she stabilized the flimsy chair legs and set them back onto the floor.

"What yah got?" She asked flipping her hair back over her shoulder.

"I found something that talks about Perquimans county- which is this county- and how there was an accusation of a witch back during the witch trials." Sam's hazel eyes moved back and forth across the computer screen in front of him.

"Are you thinking of familiars?" Dawn asked and tilted her head in a questioning manner.

"It seems plausible," he replied.

"But why so many cats? And why aren't more witch-y things happening." She added, while her face twisted into a thoughtful look of confusion.

"Maybe they are trying to hide and do everything through their familiars." Dean suggested over the sounds of Sam clicking vigorously at his keyboard trying to put the pieces together.

Both Dawn and Sam continued clicking away at their computer keyboards, while Dean pretended to look through his fathers journal. When Dawn finally came across something interesting her eyes grew wide and she continued to read.

"So listen, I found something that says some people believed that a familiar would drink the blood of their witch." She used her finger to follow the words, sliding it across the computer screen in front of her.

"That old woman mentioned that a neighbor was attacked by her cat, and it almost seemed like the cat enjoyed the taste of her blood." Sam seemed instantly excited about this conclusion. It was interesting how he was when in research mode. Both him and Dawn often worked together bouncing ideas back and forth. Dean was great at putting things together, when he was not in one of these terrible moods. It was clear this town was getting on his nerves, or possibly it was other things making him so on edge.

"Exactly," she replied nodding with enthusiasm. "It also talks about how some familiars will stare at someone until they are so uncomfortable they have to leave the room."

"Well if we are dealing with familiars, how do we get rid of them?" Dean interjected.

"It depends," she answered. "It says either they are familiar spirits, who are supposed to guide a new witch through her craft. Or they could be something altogether different." She took in a deep breath before continuing. "They could be possessed, basically familiars spirits who are demons and have powers and probably want human blood to feed on."

"I think we need to pay Gracie Carlton a visit," Sam suggested. He quickly shut his computer and rose to his feet to prepare.

"I'll call her before we head over," she reached for the hotel phone that was next to her on the table. Dawn grabbed the piece of note paper that the woman had scribbled her information on. Before she could begin dialing the numbers into the phone that was clutched in her hand, they heard a cell phone ringing loudly. She hesitated and watched as Sam pulled the cell phone from his pocket.

"It's her," Sam peered down at Dawn with a curious look. He quickly handed her the phone.

"Hello Gracie, is everything okay?" She was slightly concerned since the woman had planned on awaiting their call.

"Please, Dawn, please help me," Gracie's voice was shaky and clearly petrified. "My cats have gone crazy! I don't know what to do."

"We'll be right there, just try and lock yourself somewhere away from them." Dawn ordered the woman, while still keeping her voice calm and in control.

"I'm in my closet. Just please hurry!" She cried.

"We'll be right there!" Dawn replied. She hung up the phone and tossed it to Sam. "Her cats have gone totally crazy, we have to hurry."

The three of them were down the street and following Dean to the Impala in seconds. They had no idea what they were walking into but that didn't effect them much, it came with the job. They were used to walking blindly into danger and even the occasional trap. They were always prepared for anything, without allowing themselves to depend on expectations.

* * *

They followed the address and arrived at Gracie's home. It was a one story home but was not small by any means, and seemed slightly under-kept. It was easy to assume that she had been married and had either lost or divorced her husband. The home was clearly meant for two people, but the fact that she was alone now and in need of their help suggested that no man was in the house.

Dawn felt a sudden uneasy air to her surrounding and instantly it was telling her to turn back. The last thing she was going to do was listen to that feeling, she knew it came from something real, but this was her job. They were hunters and when things got harry they didn't run away, they charged towards the destruction.

Saying very little, the three of them headed towards the front door of the home. This was an obvious emergency and they had no idea just how many cats where inside this house ready to pounce. This woman could be in serious danger, especially if these cats were possessed familiars. Dean was first to open the front door his hand on his gun as he clutched the door handle. Surprisingly the door was unlocked, apparently people here were more trusting than most. He opened the door slowly, his eyes searching the the house as he entered, followed by Sam and Dawn.

"She said she was in her closet," Dawn whispered.

"Alright, let's check the house and try and make our way to her bedroom," Dean demanded. His usual in control attitude was taking over once again. Dawn and Sam were both far too used to it, to let it bother them at this point.

They continued creeping through the house in search of the potential danger, which happened to be a few insane cats. Once they got further into the house, they could hear some noises which sounded like scratching and possibly some whimpering sounds. Without saying a word they followed the sounds which to no surprise led to the woman's bedroom. The door was cracked open and Dean led the way into the room. Once they were inside they caught site of exactly what they were looking for. There were three cats scratching ravenously at the closet door, while they could hear Gracie crying inside. Once the cats heard them enter the room they spun around to face them. A large white cat made a loud growling sound and instantly a few more cats crawled out from their hiding places inside the bedroom.

"Oh crap," Dean groaned as he held up his weapon.

"Is that you?" Gracie yelled from inside the closet. Her voice showed just how traumatized she was from this experience.

"Just stay inside Gracie, everything is going to be okay," Dawn answered, clutching onto a crossbow in her hands.

"Please, don't hurt my babies," the woman replied. The three hunters fell instantly silent at the woman's reaction. She was requesting that they try and avoid harming the creatures that were actually trying to kill her.

The herd of cats all lined up in a row now and were hissing at the intruders. Before the three hunters could respond the cats were running towards an open window and were leaping outside together.

"We should follow them," Sam suggested. He walked towards the window and tried to watch the direction of the cats.

"I'll go with you," Dean followed Sam who was now crawling out the small window. The sight was slightly amusing to Dawn even in the current circumstances. Just watching the six foot four, rather large man crawling out of a narrow window after a fiendish herd of cats, was laughter inducing.

"I'll get Gracie and catch up with you guys," Dawn rolled her eyes in irritation. This would be the second time she was left with rescue duty, but she intended on catching up quickly.

While the brothers climbed out the window she ran towards the closet and opened the door. Gracie was sitting on the floor shaking, bloody scratches across her face and arms. Dawn quickly helped her to her bed and sat her down. It was obvious her wounds were minor and she was mostly shaken up.

"Do you think you can call 911 yourself?" She asked looking her in the eyes. She wanted to make sure the woman was okay, but she also realized the gravity of the situation Sam and Dean might be in.

"I'll be fine deary, just go after your friends," she nodded with a sniffle.

Dawn nodded and spun around quickly, only to find a small black cat standing in front of her. Her heart quickly started flopping around in her chest as she drew her crossbow. When she looked closer at the cat she realized it had been the very same one from the sidewalk. This was the cat that Dean had scared away, and it seemed somehow different than the others.

"Is this cat yours?" She asked over her shoulder to Gracie, who was reaching for her phone.

"No!" Gracie shook her head, her voice growing uneasy once again at the sight before her. "I've never seen it before in my life."

The cat let out a quiet mewing sound and started walking towards the window. It turned its head towards Dawn, as if it were beckoning her to follow. She responded and slowly made her way towards it. This was enough for the cat to continue out the window, Dawn following it every step of the way. Although it made her uneasy, this seemed like the right thing to do. She continued after the feline, down the street where she caught sight of the brothers who were looking extremely irritated.

"Hey guys," she yelled after them. They instantly turned around and rose their weapons at the site of what they thought to be a potential familiar striding towards them. "No! Don't shoot!" She hollered. They gave her a surprised look and complied. They got closer to them and the cat stopped, sitting down and waiting.

"What the hell is this?" Dean asked waving his arm.

"I have no idea," she replied. "It seems to be leading me somewhere."

"What?" Sam tilted his head.

"I know, I am just as shocked as you. What happened with the herd?" She kept looking back at the strange cat, which seemed to be listening to their conversation.

"They got away!" Dean had an irritated scowl on his face.

"Well as strange as it sounds, let's follow this little guy." She shrugged looking down at her new friend.

The cat quickly rose to his feet and started stomping down the street, leading them through an alley way. Just the sheer thought of following a strange cat through an alley way towards what seemed to be a herd of dangerous and possibly possessed cats, was insane. They had seen some pretty unusual things in their time but this was certainly one of the strangest. This cat seemed abnormally intelligent and far too in-tuned to what they were saying for it to be an ordinary feline.

Finally, they came to the edge of a second alley way and their "leader" started to slow down. There was an opening that led behind a row of a desolate buildings. Keeping hands on their weapons they tried to pay attention to what was in front of them. When they came around the corner they spotted exactly what they were looking for, accept now the herd of familiars was even larger. There were over ten cats mostly huddled together around...something.

Suddenly Dawn realized just what they were crouched around. Her eyes caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a mans hand sticking out between two of the cats. They seemed to be munching on the body of this man, there were blood stains all around him. She shook her mind free of the thought quickly and looked towards the brothers. She knew that they were prepared for what they had to do, she just hoped she could hold off the animals before they were finished. The last thing she wanted was to harm one of the innocent cats, if this truly was a possession issue.

"It's a feline frenzy," Dawn stared wide-eyed.

"Oh no, not you too." Dean shook his head at the shameful overuse of the figure of speech. This was becoming pathetic and it seemed none of them were immune.

Sam began reciting the words in Latin which both him and Dean had memorized by now. They had spoken the ritual many times, and were hoping that it worked this time. They were running this idea purely off of a hunch, and they may be completely wrong about what these creatures were. Usually their intuition led them in the right direction, but on occasion the truth was harder to find. Dawn clutched her crossbow and reached for a gun holstered at her thigh. It was a tranquilizer gun, and she had only a few shots left in it, she had to make them count.

"We exorcise you, every impure spirit..." Sam began speaking the words and Dawn could hear and understand them perfectly.

As he spoke the cats instantly reacted to the sound of the exorcism. The group one by one started turning around to face the intruders that threatened them. There was a familiar large white cat that stood out front and it was clearly the leader of the felines. In a shocking reaction it opened its mouth wide and the creatures eyes turned completely black. This was not the site of a normal cats eyes growing wide, it was that of a possessed beast. The snow white leader lunged forward, his eyes intently focused on Sam, who was the clear and present threat. Dawn lifted the tranquilizer gun and pulled the trigger sending the dart whizzing towards the animal and luckily striking it on the shoulder. The animal began stumbling slightly as it continued towards Sam. They realized now that their assumptions were correct. No ordinary animal could withstand a tranquilizer dart, this was clearly more than just an animal.

"The God of Israel Himself will have thrust excellence and strength to His Own people. Blessed be God. Glory be to the Father. " Sam finished the words in Latin as quickly as possible. As he continued to recite Dawn and Dean both stood in front of him, standing their ground as the gang of cats continued for them. When Sam said the finale words the cats all tips their heads back and black smoke rose up from their mouths and flew away. The shells of the cats fell to the ground once the smoke was finished exiting their bodies.

"Did we seriously just exorcize a group of possessed cats?" Dean held his gun in his hand staring at the scene before them.

"Yup," Dawn replied.

"We should probably go check on that woman and tell her she can come pick up her pets." Sam looked at the group of passed out cats on the ground. Mostly likely they would survive, since they weren't human and it was an entirely different kind of possession.

* * *

When they finally got to the woman's house the ambulance and police cars had arrived. They spotted her sitting in the back of an ambulance with a blanket wrapped around her and bandages covering her scratches. She seemed much better, accept the obvious look of worry written all over her face.

"How are you feeling?" Dawn asked standing in front of Gracie.

"Fine, how did everything go?" She asked, her eyes almost filling up with nervous tears.

"Okay," she said in replied. "All your kitties should be fine, they had to be tranquilized and we gave them some medicine, it was a really strange infection making them act so..."

"You don't have to lie honey," the woman interrupted.

"What do you mean?" Dean questioned, his tone stern.

"When Tootsy- which is the white cat you saw- when she scratched me I had a strange vision. Somehow she showed me what was happening to my kitties. I know this may seem strange, but they were all possessed." Gracie nodded her eyes wide as she told the story. "They were possessed by some witches assistants, who use cats as their hosts to serve the witches. Accept this specific group no longer wanted to serve their witches, not when they discovered what drinking human blood could do to them. It gave them powers that they were going to use to take over the town, and then who knows what else. You may not believe me but I know my kitties wouldn't hurt me, and I know it wasn't their fault."

"You know Gracie- as strange as it does sound- I think I do believe you." Dawn's eyes held a smile at the inside joke.

After they finished talking with Gracie they told her where she could find her cats and then headed for the Impala. There was an instant anticipation in the air, they were finally going to get a break, a rest, almost like a mini-vacation. While they were all excitedly about to pile into the car together, they noticed a barely audible mewing noise. Dawn looked down to find the small black kitty pawing at her leg. She couldn't help but grin at just how adorable it was.

"Can we keep him?" She batted her long eyelashes at the brothers, who just stared at her with their mouths completely agape.

* * *

NOTES: This story is based off of a real town, anything related to any person living or dead is completely coincidental as I have never even been to this place. This chapter is a bit on the short side, although it think it is about the same as the last one. I am really excited about what I have planned for next weeks entry but you will just have to stay tuned and see what will happen next week, mwahahaha! Either way I hope you enjoy this chapter, and of course I hope you enjoy suffering in waits to find out what will happen between Dean and Dawn, and if they are EVER going to get it on, or if something is going to get in the way AGAIN! lol.

Reviews would really be great, as they inspire me to write each week. Just let me know what you think in a quick review and I will be ecstatic.


	4. Calm Before

Notes: Reviews are really appreciated, I would love to know what my readers think of this story and the direction it is taking.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, Supernatural and BtVS belong to their owners. I make no profit, just for fun!

* * *

**"Calm Before..."**

"Dawn, I know that you like him, but there is absolutely no way we can take a cat on the road with us." Dean held onto the steering wheel, giving the girl behind him a stern look through the rear-view mirror.

Dean was trying very hard to hold onto his "resolve face", as he remembered Dawn calling it. Something she had told him she got from the red-headed witch, who he had never had the pleasure of meeting before. Trying to tell Dawn no, even in the gentlest of terms, was not an easy feet. She was stubborn and sometimes extremely frightening, but most of all Dean just didn't like disappointing her.

"Look, I get," she gave a subtle roll of her blue eyes. "We'll just see if Bobby can take him or something. I mean he deserves a home, he did help us with our case. Besides if he is with Bobby, I can still see him from time to time."

Dawn looked down at the small black cat, who was sitting on the car-seat next to her. She ran her hand along the top of his smooth fur and then gave his chin a gentle tickle. The kitty responded by purring uncontrollably and rubbing his head against her arm.

"Does it have a name?" Sam looked back at her from the passenger seat, with a grin.

"Mister Kitty Fantastico," she chuckled at the inside joke. Although the name was not the most original choice from her perspective, it seemed fitting.

"We'll head in that direction, and stop at a hotel on the way. That way you can keep him while were on our little mini-vacation." Dean offered, hopeful that it would make her feel better.

"You mean your little boink-fest?" Sam teased.

"Very subtle, Sammie," Dawn gave him a playful smack to the arm.

Sam had now been informed of their plan to take a short time off from hunting. The thought of some downtime- no matter how brief he suspected it would turn out to be- seemed like a good idea. More recently Sam had found himself wanting for something he couldn't quite put his finger on. It felt like something was absent from his life, although he had everything he needed. The two people he considered most important were alive and well and sitting with him in the Impala- which was in all reality their only semblance of a home. He wasn't unhappy by any means, just had a strange feeling like being homesick.

The plan was to stop at a hotel in Illinois, and take their mini-vacation on their way to Bobby's. They weren't stopping there because it was a wonderful vacation zone, the entire point was peace and quiet. They lived a life of constant excitement, if that was what they wanted they could just take another case from Bobby. Although whether they wanted to face it or not, the beasties seemed to find them without much guidance. Dawn was the very worst, since she joined the team they were like a magnet for the unsavory.

The hotel that they decided to stay at, was much nicer than they were accustomed to. Dawn was not usually high-maintenance but she demanded that they stay at a high quality place this time, saying 'if were vacationing in Illinois than I want to stay somewhere nice for once'. As usual, the Winchesters complied with her demands, sometimes they didn't even realize why they gave in so easily. In this case though, none of them really found fault with staying at a respectable hotel for once.

Dean pulled the Impala into the night filled parking lot of the hotel. It was appropriate timing, being that they needed to sneak in a cat and nighttime would be ideal for such an act. Dawn crawled out of the car, making sure the kitty didn't sneak by her, but he seemed perfectly happy curled up on the back seat.

"I'll take care of the room," she announced.

"I don't mind doing it," Dean assured her.

"I know," the brunette nodded. "But I think I might be able to do a better job at getting our rooms for cheap."

Dawn gave him a foxy smile and a wink, and spun around, making her way to the front desk of the hotel room. Dean watched her bouncing across the pavement, her long brown hair swaying from side to side as she walked. He tried to hide the beaming smile that spread across his lips as he watched her.

"Look at you," Sam said leaning on the top of the car. "Acting like a sappy little teenager." He couldn't help but take the opportunity to tease his brother, the tables were turned for once.

"Shut up, Samantha!" He hissed.

Dean shook his head, leaning against the top of the Impala as well. He was trying desperately to avoid admitting too much about how he felt towards Dawn. He was especially not hoping to talk about it right now, while his mind raced, wondering exactly how many rooms Dawn was dickering out of the desk clerk. Although her behavior should have alluded to his answer, Dean knew her all too well, she was not the predictable type. Something about her unpredictability scared him, but he was not about to admit that, not out-loud at least.

His heart fluttered slightly in his chest at the sight of the blue-eyed demon-hunter advancing towards them. She stopped in front of the car with an charming look on her face and held up one of the room keys.

"Look card keys! Innit fancy?" Her bright eyes glimmered with a comical smile as she pursed her full lips together.

They were used to staying at the cheapest motels they could find, so usually they had to fumble with old fashioned room keys.

"So did you get us a good deal?" Sam asked.

"Of course I did!" She answered with a self-assured grin. "Here's yours." She held out the key in her hand and Sam quickly retrieved it from her.

"Where's mine?" Dean pouted, instantly having doubts about what her choice of sleeping arrangements may be.

Dawn dropped her head, her hair falling around her shoulders and chuckled to herself. She walked around to the other side of the car, where Dean was standing. She reached into a small pocket on the front of her dress and pulled out two card keys.

"You get two," she explained. "This one goes to Sammie's room," she slid one of the keys into his shirt pocket. "And this one goes to my room," she placed the second key in his pocket as well. "I'll just be in there undressing. So it is totally up to you where you want to spend the night."

Dawn turned around, forcing back the sly smile that was playing at her lips. She quickly grabbed her duffel bag from the trunk and slid it around her shoulder. Sam had already suggested that he hide the cat inside his jacket while he walked inside, so she left Mister Kitty Fantastico in the car for Sam to retrieve him. She had requested rooms across the hall from one another, so Sam would be able to leave the cat with Dawn later on.

She got to the elevator and pressed the up button multiple times anxiously, causing her to feel instantly foolish. The elevator arrived with a loud "ding" and she climbed inside, clutching onto the strap on her bag. She pressed the appropriate button once inside and then leaned her back against the elevator wall. Letting out a deep and exaggerated breath, she clamped her eyes shut. Hoping beyond hope that this was not too good to be true, that an actual night without demon-hunting and obnoxious interruptions could be possible.

As the elevator rose to her floor, she felt a strange feeling in her gut, one that had nothing to do with the foreign rising motion. She had felt this feeling before, like someone was watching her, someone familiar. It made the hairs on her arms stand straight up, it sent an uncomfortable shiver down her spine. The elevator doors opened once again and she forced herself to shake off the strange feelings. It was probably not the wisest decision, since her intuition had never been wrong before, right now she didn't really care. She deserved one night, just one night was not too much to ask for. Maybe if she just pushed the fears aside, maybe if she ignored her intuition for once, nothing bad would happen. If she paid no attention to the uneasiness- self-fulfilling prophecy and all that garbage.

When she got inside her room she had to stop herself from latching the deadbolt. So maybe she was struggling a bit to ignore her strange little hunch. She tossed her duffel to the floor and looked around at the hotel room. It was certainly nicer than the usual dumps that they crashed at, and she couldn't help but enjoy the familiar hotel smell she remembered from when she was a kid. The room was painted in a creamy beige color and the curtains were a deep maroon, which matched the bedding. The television was much larger than the ones in mediocre hotel rooms, and it was a slim flat screen.

Dawn sat on the edge of the bed and started sliding off her shoes, tossing them across the room. She flopped her body backwards against the cushy comfort of the large hotel bed, with a responding chuckle. As she stared at the patterns on the ceiling above her, her mind began to race. Not wanting to allow her imagination to take her hostage- which would clearly prevent her from enjoying herself- she tried to control the direction of her thoughts. She remembered how Buffy would always ruin any chance of happiness even for a moment, just to save the always ending world. Her sister sacrificed so much because she was the slayer, but Dawn was just a hunter. She didn't have a destiny that was set in stone, she was the master of her own fate- at least that's what she thought. The dangerous truth that separated her from her sister, was that she would be completely incapable of killing the man she loved to save the world.

Before she could permit herself to start reminiscing over her sisters short comings, she heard someone fumbling with the hotel door. She sat up quickly, her heart leaping slightly in her chest. What if it wasn't the person she was hoping for? She quickly shoved those fears aside and convinced herself that no one was following her. She told herself that she was simply being self-sabotaging and she needed to _cut the crap_.

As the door swung open, she breathed a sigh of relief at the sight before her. Dean entered the room, tossing the door shut behind himself and dropping his bags onto the floor. He quickly looked at her, sitting on the edge of the bed, and shot her a curious glance.

"Weren't you supposed to be undressing or something?" He tilted his head to the side, his brow cocked as he looked at her with anticipation.

"Well I didn't expect you to get here so fast, being that there is only one elevator where we came in," she snickered.

"Oh, I ran up the stairs while you were in the elevator."

Dawn giggled and placed her face into the palms of her hands. When she stopped laughing and lifted her head to look at Dean, he was observing her with a compelling expression in his eyes. She could feel the weight of his stare, and it pulled her into a trance. Her eyelashes fluttered, but still her focus was drawn intently to his gaze. She had never once had a man look at her quite like that before, and it left her paralyzed. He stepped towards her, without uttering a word. Dawn- the chatterbox that she normally was- could not seem to break the silence.

Dean reached down to cup the side of her porcelain smooth face with his hand. She finally closed her eyes, pressing her face against the warmth of his touch. She could feel an overwhelming rush of emotion to the feel of his hand stroking her cheek. It wasn't the same as when she wanted desperately to tear his clothes off- granted she wanted that too- but this was different, something else. When he touched her like that she felt loved. She felt home.

He slid his hand underneath her chin, gently guiding her to her feet. For a moment he just stared into her alluring blue orbs, studying the details inside of them. There was no denying it, the girl had bedroom eyes. Her gaze was unbelievably penetrating, even when she didn't intend for it to be. She was wearing a short black dress, with a zipper on the front of it that went from the very top to the bottom. He grasped the zipper and slid it down the length of her curvacious body until he reached the bottom, letting his hand graze her thigh. Dawn reached up and slid her straps over her shoulders, allowing the dress to fall to the floor. She slipped her arms around the thickness of his neck, her eyes becoming almost level with his.

Without hesitation they both leaned in to press their lips together. The kiss started as gentle and teasing- building slowly. Until Dawn could feel the heat rising, her lips were engulfed with a fire that lacked the burn. In reaction Dawn wrapped her arms tighter around him, pulling herself against him. The very fabric of her surroundings began to fall apart, the lights dimmed, all sounds were muted. The world around them was nonexistent. The only thing she could feel were his lips against hers, his hands exploring her body. They did not fear letting go, because there was no ending in sight.

Dawn began reaching for the buttons on Deans shirt, while their lips were still entangled. Her fingers sliding the fabric over the small plastic circles, until she had undone each button. She ran her hands across his firm chest, moving the flaps of his shirt open wider until she could see his bare skin. She leaned in, pressing her lips against the warmth of his body. She then continued placing feathery kisses against his chest, allowing the tip of her tongue to graze against him subtly. A gentle moan released from his lips, as she began placing kisses down the length of his stomach. When she slowly rose back to face him, she slid his shirt over his shoulders, her eyes instantly admiring the shape of his muscles.

Dawn reached up to grasped the back of his neck, sliding her other hand down the side of his face. The tips of her fingers brushed against his bottom lip, completely absorbed in the motion. She scraped her teeth against her own lip, trying to reign in her staggering intensity. Her eyes locked with his, emerald vortexes sharing everything, letting her in on the secret that he wasn't saying out loud.

Their lips met once again, as they continued to undress one another until all that was left between them was the thickness in the air. He lifted her body from the floor and onto the cold bed in one swift and concise movement, his form towering over her. Suddenly, even the fears that they had been pretending did not exist, disappeared inside the moment. Everything that had led them to here and now, in that instant made complete sense. For all the inexplicable reasons, crossing the threshold together their bodies entwined, had left everything in existence at a crashing stand still. The world they entered while he was inside her, was not the same world they existed in prior to this. This was not a world where they were hunters, where she was The Key and he an eternal big brother. In this world, they were not scarred, they were not wounded- they were rightfully whole. In that transcending moment, they grasped freedom. They touched hold of truly and only belonging to one another.

* * *

Dawn woke from her peaceful slumber, to the sound of an intruder at her door. She wasn't sure where she was, she just knew someone was entering the room. She was so used to sleeping somewhere different each and every night, that she often needed time to think about where she was. When she heard an intruder her initial reaction was to protect herself and her loved ones.

Dawn grasped the gun that was underneath her pillow at all times and swiftly aimed it towards the direction of the noise. She sat up in bed grasping the gun, as her eyes began to focus on who or what was there. She instantly lowered her weapon when she saw Dean standing in front of her with a tray full of food.

"I'm sorry," she said nervously. She slid the gun back where it belonged, underneath her silk pillow. "It's just a gut reaction."

"Which is exactly why I had them leave the food outside the door and then waited for them to leave before I went and got it. I expected you probably would have killed anyone you didn't recognize." Dean added coolly and began walking towards the bed. "And I most certainly don't want him getting an eye-full." He waggled his eyebrows, while staring at her chest.

Dawn quickly glanced down in the direction that he was staring and noticed that her chest was completely bare, the blanket had fallen when she sat up. Her face held a chagrined expression, as she touched her forehead with her fingertips.

"Although, he probably would have died happy," he grinned and plopped down on the bed next to her.

She felt slightly embarrassed at her own reaction, maybe she was a bit excessive, but Dean admired her more for it. He was far too used to women who could not protect themselves, and now he had found one who was capable of protecting him. Dawn was most certainly lethal, but lately she seemed distracted, hence the vacation.

"Sorry for pointing a gun at you," she wrinkled her nose. She hated the thought of being on the opposite end of any weapon that was pointed at the people she intended to protect.

"Don't worry about it," he gave her a casual shrug. Dean was not worried, because at the end of the day he knew she would never have shot him, it was a virtual impossibility. "Breakfast?" He smiled in her direction, his gruff voice picking up a higher octave than usual.

"Do I ever say no to breakfast?" She beamed and sat up straighter, allowing Dean more room on the bed. "I can't believe you brought me breakfast in bed."

"You say it like it hasn't happened before."

"True, but the context is slightly different," she chuckled and reached for a piece of bacon.

"Slightly?" Dean tried to hold back his smile.

"Yes, slightly," she playfully narrowed her eyes at him. "So what's the plan for today?" She took a large bite of bacon into her mouth and it made Dean chuckle.

"Not much to do in this town, but we could see a movie. I don't know how long it's been since I have actually seen a movie in theaters."

His face held a bizarre expression, one that she understood well. It was the look of family, he was going down that road called reminiscence. The way he loved his family was one of her favorite things about him, it reminded her of herself. The thought brought a twinge to her heart, the face of a certain beautiful blond slayer invaded her thoughts.

"A movie sounds good," she agreed, swallowing another piece of bacon. "Did you talk to Sam?"

"Yeah, he said he would find something else to do, since we probably want 'alone time'." He made quotations with his hands when he said 'alone time'.

"Uh- absolutely not," Dawn wrinkled her forehead. "Movie night would not be movie night without Sammie."

"I told him you would say that."

It pleased him that he knew exactly what she would say, knew her all too well. The fact that Dawn loved Sam so much made her even more appealing, because no woman would ever come between his brother and him. Dawn was different though, and he knew that, she put them both above herself almost to an unhealthy degree. She was a woman who would die for the ones she loved, but would not hesitate to pull the trigger on her enemies.

"We will just have to kidnap him," she twisted her lips sarcastically. "What time is it?" Her eyes began searching around for the nearest clock in sight.

"Noon," Dean said around a mouthful of food.

"Noon!?" She hollered. "Holy crap! Since when do I sleep until noon?" Her eyes grew wide at the thought racing through her mind. Since she became a hunter, sleeping until noon seemed inconceivable. Unless of course she had just been through a near death experience and was knocked unconscious, even then it seemed scarce. In the past few hours she had forgotten about the concept of time passing by.

Dean looked up at her and instantly a smile spread across his face. He tried to force his grin from turning into laughter, at the site of her hair crumpled out of place. Dawn cocked her head to the side noticing his amused expression.

"What?" She asked constricting her eyes skeptically. She reached up to feel her head and instantly realized what he was smiling about. "Alright, I am going to go remove the birds nest from my head and then we can finish breakfast. And after that we'll start getting ready for the movie."

Dawn crawled out of bed and started walking towards the direction of the bathroom. Before she could venture very far, Dean had snatched her wrist once again and pulled her in for a kiss. She could taste the sparks on his tongue, that she had begun to favor. Being the sister of the slayer, the only men she had really ever dated had been of the supernatural nature, but still none of them kissed like Dean Winchester.

* * *

After they had decided on the best movie theater in town, and had forced Sam out of his hotel room, they headed for the movie. They had made sure that their kitty had plenty of food and water and Dawn insisted on baby-proofing the room. The cat was content to rest on the edge of the bed, staring at the television as if he understood what he was watching, which quite amused the three hunters.

Most of their movie options seemed far too familiar and were definitely not what they felt like sitting down for two hours to watch. Possession and the new Resident Evil, were certainly something they had seen before, just in the real world. Lawless seemed like a perfect option for them, so they planned for the 5:30 showing. Of course Dawn and Dean did find some "alone time" in between breakfast and getting ready for the movie. Which ended up leaving them a bit too late for the 3 O'clock showing.

They drove up to the decent sized movie theater, although it was nothing too impressive. Dawn couldn't help but feel a bit of childish excitement at the thought of spending a night on the town with her boys. They rarely had the opportunity to relax lately, and the realization of them being able to see a movie left her feeling like a kid on Christmas morning. The life of a hunter caused for an appreciation of the little things in existence.

They bought their tickets and then decided that there was a definite need for movie snacks. When the three hunters walked up to the counter together, a young girl with jet black hair and uneven bangs rushed over to serve them. It was clearly not her side of the counter, and Dawn took notice to the way her eyes practically bugged out of her head. She didn't like any girl undressing Dean with their eyes, and in her opinion Sam was far too good for the likes of this girls affections. The only thing Dean was noticing was the way Dawn looked in her knee length white dress. The dress hugged her curves at the top and released into a flowing material at her hips, which made it perfect for hiding her dagger sheathed at her thigh.

"Hey, what can I get'cha guys?" She smiled her voice instantly peppy as she leaned across the counter.

"Many, many things," Dawn attempted kindness.

She had outgrown that desire to scrap with any potential girl, and she much preferred this night go smoothly. Clearly the obnoxious girl was not in the same pacifistic state of mind that Dawn was. Her eyes were intently focused on Dean, although she took the occasional glance towards Sam.

"I guess, three soda's and an extra large popcorn." Dean began running off requests, trying to seem oblivious to the awkward tension. He was hoping that this girl would back-off, mostly for her own sake. "Some Twizzlers and...some Peanut M&M's. What about you guys?"

Dawn giggled slightly, her lips keeping an adoring simper. The admiration she held for Dean was obvious, people miles away could sense it. While wrapped up in her own amusement, Dawn felt a buzzing at her hip. She reached down to lift her phone from her pocket and saw a text from Spike. While she was distracted, the dark haired counter-girl saw the opportunity and made her move.

"Hey," she whispered. "Maybe, when you guys are done with your movie, we can go get a drink?"

"Probably not," Dean pressed his lips together.

"Oh come on," she snaked her body further over the counter. "We can ditch the girl easy."

"Listen, for your own safety, just forget about it."

"What? It's not like she's that pretty," she hissed, clearly offended.

"Alright Sweetheart," Dawn snarled. "Why don't you do your job instead of hitting on the customers." She stood in front of the girl, trying to keep her calm. "Oh yeah, and throw in some skittles for me will yah?"

The girl spun around and started getting together their food. She was completely flustered, her cheeks a bright red color. After they paid for their food and drinks they headed in the direction of their movie. Sam and Dean finally releasing a relaxed breath when they realized Dawn hadn't painted the walls with the movie theater girl. Clearly she was in a much better mood than usual- recent developments might have had something to do with her very cheerful demeanor.

Whether the movie was good or not was not important. What held the most enjoyment for them was the opportunity to actually see a film in theaters. The most they got to see were rentals from the hotel room pay per view. They always enjoyed each others company, and the only time they ever fought was when it involved one anothers lives being in danger. The three of them understood each other in away that seemed completely innate.

When the movie was finished, Dean expressed that dinner was a must. Even though he had stuffed his face with popcorn and most of the concession's stand worth of candy, he was still plenty hungry. So the three of them sat down at an Applebee's that was next door to the theater. By the time they had finished eating and headed back to the hotel it was past nine o'clock. After saying goodnight Sam ducked into his hotel room in a very unsubtle manor.

The second Dawn could no longer hear the chatter between the brothers, she felt a sick feeling in her gut. That same uneasiness like someone was watching her, crept up once again. The difference this time was that every fiber of her being was preventing her from ignoring it. Someone was inside their room, and there was no doubt about it. She grabbed a hold of Dean's arm before he could open the hotel room door. He looked back at her and his heart sank once he noticed the expression on her face. He knew exactly what that look in her eyes meant, he had seen it there before.

"I'm going in first," he demanded.

Before she could protest he had already unlocked the door and was inside the room. Of course she was right behind him looking around, but finding nothing in sight. Suddenly, she could feel the presence behind her, a presence that she recognized. She spun around, her dagger sliding from its usual place at her thigh and she hastily pressed it against the throat of the intruder. Her eyes narrowed into dangerous slits as she looked at the face of the man standing before her.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't plaster these walls with your entrails," she hissed, her voice was dripping with a dreadful venom.

"Because we both know how much you missed me." His lips curved at the edges, rising into a sinister smile that reached the height of his frighteningly dark eyes.

Dean's jaw dropped as he realized what was going on. It was evident that this man standing before them, was not a stranger to Dawn, not nearly.


	5. The Storm

Notes: This is a bit short, but only because it is the best way to separate the chapters. This chapter was more conversational while next weeks will be more action packed. Hope you enjoy it and please leave a review! If some things in the story confuse you it means you have missed some Supernatural episodes and you should be able to figure it out on Supernatural Wiki.  
Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or BtVS, I make no profit from this story.

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**...The Storm**

"What are you doing here, Sebastian?" Dawn angled the blade against his throat, pressing it with a deadly force.

"Angel, this is not the welcome I expected." He forced the words from his lips, trying not to choke from the crushing strain against his neck. His enchanting Spanish accent resonated with a dynamic hum, even as he spoke around the pressure of her blade.

"Well, it's the welcome you deserve," her voice trembled with a fiery rage that she could feel burning hot underneath the shield of her skin.

"I guess so," Sebastian yielded her a deadpan answer.

"Dawn?" Dean clutched a firm hold onto his weapon. "You wanna tell me what's going on here?"

"New friend?" Sebastian asked, his tone positively arrogant. The direction of his gaze never left Dawn's face.

"Dawn?" Dean asked again, his voice was a bit louder this time. "How do you know him?"

"What am I, mi amor? Your dirty little secret?"

"Shut up!" She snarled and thrust the blade of the dagger against him with even more fortitude.

Dawn looked at Dean, whose face stared back at her in absolute bewilderment. She felt a sickness in her center when she looked into his eyes, they were like blades of green grass slicing into her. She knew her past would come back to bite her in ass, it always did.

"Sebastian, is-" she swallowed the hard lump in her throat. "He's my ex."

Dawn hated the way it sounded- hated that she had to admit to the truth- and that she had kept it from them. More than anything, she hated the look in Dean's eyes as he took a stunned step backwards.

"Ooh, the hunter looks hurt," Sebastian mocked, pouting his bottom lip dramatically.

"If you say one more word, I promise I will slit your throat," her voice was thick and viscous, and her eyes no different. Even though he was clearly self-assured, Sebastian fell silent at the sound of her threat- Dawn did not break her promises.

The look inside his black-flecked deep brown eyes was not that of fear, but rather enticement. There was a born fire inside him, and it was easy to sense. Sebastian Otero, was an almost artificially gorgeous man, from his slightly longer caramel-colored hair, to his physique that was comparable to Adonis. His top lip was equally as ample as his full bottom lip, and equally as kissable. His eyes which were deeply set, were consuming in their allure. The color was the dark-brown shade of a shiny coffee bean, but when he stared into the sun reflected like amber-honey. His entire face was the epitome of masculine, including his dramatic square jawline, and high cheekbones. He was nearly flawless in physical appearance, yet the exact opposite when it came to personality.

There were so many reasons why Dawn had refrained from telling Dean and Sam about him, but those reasons seemed trivial now. She had prided herself on being honest, and here she was, omitting an entire part of her life from the people she cared for.

"Now tell me," Dawn put her focus on the potential threat standing in front of her. "Why are you here? And you better give me a really good reason!"

"Mercy is missing-"

Instantly, her heart sank below her feet like the weight of an iceberg. Mercy had been her best friend, but she hadn't spoken to her since she joined the Winchesters. At that moment, she felt like she had abandoned her. The realization that Mercy was missing, overloaded Dawn with a sharp-biting guilt.

"I'm not sure who took her." Sebastian focused on Dawn now, a troubled look of concern in his features. "But, I think it might be Gweniss."

Dawn opened her mouth, and tried to breath but it felt like no air was entering her lungs. She instantly dropped the dagger, and it fell to the floor with a light thud. When the knife released, there was still an impression, in a barely noticeable line of blood on Sebastian's neck. Dawn's legs began to shake underneath her, she tried to remain standing with all the strength she possessed. Before she could fall to the ground, both Dean and Sebastian reached out to grab her. Being that Sebastian was the closest, he reached her first- but she shoved him away and quickly threw herself into Dean's arms. Her eyes grew heavy with tears, ones that she tried to force back. No matter how terrified or hurt she felt, Dawn hated crying.

Dean blanketed her with the cover of his arms, relieved by the fact that she had chosen him. This entire situation was extremely jarring, but when he saw her fall apart- no matter how angry he was- he wanted to find a way to comfort her.

Dean practically carried her across the room and set her gently onto the edge of the bed, still stabilizing her. He brushed her cheek with his hand, looking into her eyes for a sign that she was still with him. Inside her eyes, he saw swirls of white-blue clouds mixed with dark-crystal irises. The current mixed color of her eyes, looked similar to a raging storm. He had never imagined seeing such expression in a singular fleck of color within someones eyes.

"I have to find her," she expressed with an unreleased urgency.

"We will," Dean promised. "But Dawn-"

Before he could speak Dawn had already noticed the tone in his voice, and the expression on his face. She had realized what he was going to ask for, and she reacted before he could finish voicing it.

"Sebastian, I need to talk to Dean-"

"Don't let my presence stop you," his lips arced into an untamed smirk.

"Alone!" She demanded, the shrillness in her voice nearly rising to a shriek. The sound reminded her of when she had released over-dramatic screams many times as a teenager, usually at the expense of her older sister. Recently she had grown out of those obnoxious squeals, but something about Sebastian's prideful demeanor made her snap.

Her narrow jaw tensed, in an attempt to cage the fervent storm boiling inside of her. Sebastian recognized the look on her face, and with a seemingly permanent smile in his enigmatic, dark eyes, he headed for the exit. Dawn was not much concerned with where he went, or the fact that she knew he would be coming back. All she thought about right now, was that he was gone, and she had to explain herself to Dean.

Dean sat on the edge of the bed next to her and Dawn's eyes instantly darted to the floor. Her heart raced as she ran through everything she needed to say. She racked her brain for how far back this all went, instantly realizing that they were going to be here a while. It was painful to think she had kept so much a secret from the people she cared about. It made her feel like a stranger inside her own body; this wasn't who she was.

She attempted to slide the thickness of her hair behind her ear but it fought her, escaping and falling back around her face. She licked her lips, in an attempt to remove the dryness that had developed from her nervous breaths. Her chest felt heavy as she tilted her head, finally forcing herself to look at Dean. Uncertainty played it's game inside her owl-like eyes, as she looked up at him from underneath thick dark eyelashes.

"I'm sorry," were the first words she felt compelled to utter. "I should have told you everything-"

"Just tell me now," he declared with his usual bearish voice. His elbows were resting upon his legs, as he fumbled with his own hands.

"I don't even know where to start," she snorted.

Dawn drew another heavy and emphasized breath into her lungs, readying herself for the lengthy tale ahead. Her mind rattled through all the memories, reaching for the beginning, and dragging out the words she needed to say.

"You remember how I told you, I tried college for a little while?" The anxious brunette glanced towards Dean and he gave her an assured nod. "Well that's where I met Sebastian. I had a double-major in Language and Psychology. He was a teaching assistant for a human sexuality class that I was taking." Her eyes were drawn to Dean's every reaction, fearful that any moment he would give up on her. "He's always been really wrapped up in the supernatural, even more so than most non-humans. When he saw me he already knew who I was- being the slayers little sister and all- and of course being the Key. So he invited me to what he said was an advanced students group- where we could discuss psychology in-depth. Well when I got to the meeting, it was clearly not school related at all. Everyone there was...well let's just say they were less than human. That's actually where I first met Mercy." Dawn's lips instantly curved into an adoring smile when she recalled her friend, her eyes lit with pride. "She's an Empath, and was so open and honest with me right away. We quickly became best friends, we were basically inseparable. Then after Sebastian and I started dating, the three of us spent all our time together."

"What is Sebastian?" He asked, sensing the hesitation in her voice. Even before Dawn admitted to her ex-boyfriend being of the non-human nature- Dean could sense it immediately.

"He's-" For a few seconds her mouth fell open, unable to answer. "An Incubus."

"A what?!" Dean bellowed, sprinting from the bed and rising to his feet. His wide worry-rimmed eyes stared back at her in complete dismay. "Were talking about those things that spawn a Cambion right?"

"Technically yes, but-"

"Oh, good, just checking," Dean nodded sarcastically. "Wanted to make sure we were on the same page," he threw his hands up in the air.

"It's not like that Dean-" Dawn bit her bottom lip as he interrupted her train of thought.

"Oh really?" He tilted his head to the side slightly. "Because from where I'm standing it looks like you were dating an extremely dangerous demon. Let's not forget that just by being with this demon you risked the end of the world as we know it!"

In an instant his very reality shattered all around him. The woman he thought he know better than he knew himself- the woman who just moments go seemed so close to him- now seemed worlds away.

"I didn't know!" Her usually hypnotizing chromatic eyes, filled with translucent spates of tears. "He's not as dangerous as his potential offspring. Mostly he just breaks a whole lot of human laws, and spends very little time caring about others," she shrugged lifelessly. "I mean he treated me..good. Until I found out through Mercy, exactly what would happen if...you know," she looked away from him ashamed. "So I tried to break it off- I didn't want to risk the end of the world. But he wouldn't let me go, he used his power on me for a while."

Dean knew what she meant, he hadn't dealt with too many Incubus or Succubus before but he knew about their powers. An Incubus had many powers, one of which was the ability to seduce someone into doing anything they asked, by a simple touch.

"But, something happened. I'm not sure if it wore off, or if my own powers were getting stronger- but one day I realized what he was doing to me. Needless to say, I left- but not before beating the living shit out him, and leaving him chained to a bed-post," she didn't speak with a sense of pride. Taking her fists to someone who had tried to control her like that, was just second nature to Dawn.

"Who is Gweniss?" He asked, remembering her fear when Sebastian said this strangers name. Dean always had a talent for picking up on the little subtleties in peoples comments.

"Shes very dangerous, she's a mix between a Sorceress and some special kind of Phoenix. She's done the whole combustion and then rejuvenating from her ashes thing for centuries. Accept because of her being a Sorceress, she found a way to keep all her past memories each time she rises from her ashes. Making her more and more powerful and more dangerous, each time she rises."

"What does she have to do with you?" Dean's eyebrows tensed into a firm boundary, his face a picture of concern.

"After a while, Mercy, Sebastian and I noticed some...changes, in ourselves. It seemed like the more time we spent together, the more our abilities seemed to rub off on each other. We went looking for help to find out what was going on, and it ended up leading to the wrong person telling Gweniss about it. I still haven't found out who the traitor was, but if I get my hands on them they will regret it," she said, her upper lip curling in anger. "Gweniss was smart enough to find out what the key element in the mix was, that caused the three of us to essentially learn each others powers." Dawn bit her bottom lip, nervously chewing on the thin layer of skin.

"What was the key element?" Dean's lids lifted wider as he stared at her, engrossed in the dangerous truth she had kept from him.

"Me," she stared back at him with a pained, yet dove-like expression. "Without me, the powers can't be shared, and the only part of my power that anyone else can absorb is the rapid heeling, nothing else. But Gweniss thinks she can use me to completely absorb other powers."

"Did you spend a lot more time with them, than you have with me and Sam?"

"In a way, yes and in a way, no. I knew them for a few years, but we didn't spend literally every second of everyday together like you, me and Sam do."

"Then why-"

"Because your human," she interrupted before Dean could finish. "It only works if everyone involved is at-least slightly less than human, and it has to be more than two people. The point is that it has to be able to benefit me in some small way, and the only thing I would get from you guys is a head full of lore, and a hankering for pie and bacon cheeseburgers," her lips finally broke with the breath of a smile.

"And some serious ass-kicking abilities," Dean raised an eye-brow blithely.

"Of course there is that," her cheeks rose, pulling her lips upward into a gentle snicker.

"So do the abilities you pick up wear off after a while or are they permanent?" He felt like he was already asking too many questions, but he needed to know these answers.

"For me they've been permanent, but I only picked up a little bit. Like sometimes I can get a sense of others emotions, and on occasion my powers of persuasion are a bit stronger than most peoples," her lips inclined into a timid simper.

"What makes this Gwen-bitch think she can use you to completely take someone's powers, I mean if it only gives you a small amount?"

"She's a Sorceress, she thinks she can find a way to use me as a link to completely drain them. She plans on killing people to take everything inside them- hoping that all of their power will come with it," she shook her head in disgust.

Dawn had been running from her past, much like a mouse runs from a cat, with the feline only inches from the rodents tail. Over every hurdle she leaped, every hill she climbed, the treachery was never far behind her. Her thoughts drifted once again, to big sis- the girl who was a hero since she was 16 years old, and her title still reigned supreme. Buffy had been blessed with beauty and so many other amazing traits and talents, but she was cursed with the role of perpetual savior. She had to give up her life at every turn- give up her happiness- and nothing seemed to turn out right for her in the end. Dawn feared that maybe this screwing up your happiness thing was a family attribute.

"So she has this friend of yours because she knows you will come after her," Dean nodded, it was more of a comment than a question.

"Yeah," she exhaled with a weariness in her breathing. "I know you're probably really angry with me, but I _am_ sorry," she declared sincere. "Besides, doesn't everyone have something from their past that they want to forget? It's not like I killed someone, I just-"

"Dawn," he gently cupped his hand over her mouth to silence her. "It's okay, I get it," he assured her, and then released his hand from her lips.

"Really?" Half of her mouth bowed into a crooked smile, her forehead wrinkling into lumps of sooth skin.

"Yeah- I'm not about to be pissed off at you for something I probably would have done myself." He went to say something else but then hesitated for a moment. "Uh- Never-mind-"

"Tell me," she squinted slightly, looking at him with a quizzical expression.

"Ah, Dammit! This mushy crap is not me at all," Dean explained with his always gruff voice. "You've got me acting like I'm in some damn chick flick!"

"I promise not to tell anyone." Dawn held back the snicker that was fighting against the inside of her lips.

Dean let out an exaggerated huff. "I was just gonna say, that I never really thought I would end up with anything much in my life, besides the whole hunting thing. I figured eventually Sammie would settle down, get married and have some kind of normal life. I've always known how much he wanted that, and I always hoped he would find it too. But I guess the only thing I saw in my own future was to protect Sam, and spend the rest of my life hunting." He was staring down at his lap, fumbling with his hands awkwardly. "It's just who I am, I'll always be a hunter," he reached his arm up to scratch the back of his neck. "Most women can't really get into the whole demon killing lifestyle, and even if they can get over it, they'll always be in danger with me. But with you, it's different. All I'm trying to say, is that I'm not about to let that all go because of a few things I don't know about your past."

"Thank you, Dean," her eyes were saturated with an adoring spark.

"But I have to tell you, Sebastian is a bit of an ass," he raised his brow sarcastically.

"I know," she let out a quiet laugh from her nose. "All Incubus are- part of it is because of how long he's lived, it makes them think they are God's gift."

"How long has he lived?" Dean asked the question, almost instantly wishing he hadn't. He was sick of talking about this- no matter how much he wanted to know everything- it was getting tiring.

"He was born in 16th century Spain," she had an awkward expression on her face.

"You know a lot about him then, huh?" There was an obvious sound of jealousy in his voice, even though he was trying to disguise it.

"I know a little, but not a lot," Dawn looked up at him thoughtfully. "Like for example, I don't know his actual birthday. I know your birthday is January, 24. I know all about your parents, I know you're named after your grandmother Deanna. I know everything about you Dean, even more than I knew about a 500 year old demon that I dated for three years." Her expression was serious, as she pulled his chin in the direction of her gaze, forcing him to look at her. "But those things, are just facts, and they don't mean anything compared to what I truly know about you. I know that you pretend to be all tough, but that you love_ so much_. You put yourself down, but you're the _bravest _person I know. I know that the reason you put up all these walls- isn't because you're afraid of letting anyone in- it's because you keep everything bottled up inside. The reason I know all these things about you- that I didn't know about Sebastian- is because I cared to know."

Dean stared back at her with wide-eyes, and the pout of his lips pressed together. When it came to emotional conversations, Dawn was almost as diverting as he was- usually. Even though the both of them often used sarcasm and humor to fill the silence, Dean was relieved to hear her honesty. No matter how confident he pretended to be, nothing was more humbling than having the ex-boyfriend show up out of nowhere. Even worse when the ex happens to be an obnoxious sex-demon. So having Dawn reassure him, was most certainly welcomed.

"Alright- you get the point," she released a breath from her nose and closed her eyes. "All this stress is giving me a headache," she massaged her temple with the tips of her fingers. "I am telling Sebastian we will deal with this crap in the morning. I'll be right back," she promised.

Before she stood up from the bed, her eyes caught Dean's gaze. Instantly pulling her into the site of oversized, illuminating green-orbs, rimmed with lengthy dark-eyelashes. She inched herself closer and she drew her mouth to his, gently parting his lips with her own. For only a moment their lips met, hovering in an exquisite, weightless kiss. She hesitantly pulled away and fluttered her eyes open.

Pulling herself out of the moment, Dawn rose to her feet and started walking towards the hotel room door. She suspected Sebastian had not gone far, so she took the elevator down to the hotel lobby. Once she made her way downstairs, sure enough there he has, flirting mercilessly with a skinny-clearly rich- blond wearing a thick fur coat. Dawn wrinkled her nose at the site of the fur- no doubt it was real- and it made her nauseous. Rolling her weary blue eyes with a loud groan, she started stomping towards the Incubus. Each step she made was forced hard against the floor beneath her in frustration.

"Hey, darling," she shouted from a few feet away, catching their attention. "Where were you?" She grabbed his arm and painted an obnoxious fake smile on her face. "I was just about to put the baby down, but you know how he gets if you don't read him a bed time story." She quickly jetted her eyes to the pretty blond. "Oh hey! I'm Dawn-" she reached her hand out to offer it to the woman.

"I'm Charlotte," she responded and shook Dawns hand with a surprised look on her face. "Um- I really should be going. It was nice meeting you both." With those words, Charlotte spun around, bolting for the elevator.

"Nicely done," Sebastian nodded. "Baby huh? You do realize even though you got her to leave, that she could care less if I have a child or not?"

"Not if I tell her the child is a demon-spawn, and will bring about the end of life-as-we-know-it," her voice was coated thickly in arrogance.

"Are you jealous?"

"Absolutely not," she glowered at him. "I needed to get rid of miss-fur-coat, so that I could talk to you," Dawn explained clearly irritated at his suggestion. Although she did take a slight pleasure in ruining his night in any way possible, mostly because he had ruined hers.

"Alright, mi amor, what do you have to tell me?"

"First of all, stop calling me that," she ordered. "All I wanted to tell you was that we'll work on finding Mercy tomorrow morning."

"Okay, princesa!" The devious yet seemingly perm-a-smile was still glowing in his eyes.

Dawn shut her lids and released an annoyed breath as she shook her head. She quickly turned around and starting walking back towards the elevator. Before she had taken more than a few steps, she turned just enough to look at Sebastian over her shoulder.

"Oh, and Sebastian-" She spoke with a haughty, yet seemingly gentle tone. "If you ever do anything to hurt Sam or Dean, I _will_ kill you," her eyes were roaring with the same dangerous storm that had been there earlier. "I promise."


	6. Dusty Books and Pesky Visions

Notes: Sorry that it took so long to post this chapter everyone. I have had an ulcer and it really knocked me out, I have not been feeling well enough to do much of anything. I hate not being able to write and I wanted to get on the computer about a million times. I hope you enjoy this chapter and please let me know what you think about the direction the story is taking in the form of a review! I love to hear everyone's thoughts.

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Dawn pulled a deep breath into her lungs, from the surrounding air. She slid her knife into the sheath against her thigh, which was wrapped over fitted black pants. Black was a common color among hunters- it was much easier to hide various blood stains without having to toss your clothing. She pulled her long silken brown hair around her shoulders, letting it settle across her chest.

This whole situation really sucked- for lack of a better word. She was sick and tired of the best moments in her life always getting interrupted by some tragic event. Dawn was desperately worried about Mercy- she just hoped Gweniss had not done anything unforgettable to her yet. It seemed like each second she grew more distressed- her thoughts wandering astray. She considered the safety of Dean and Sam as well, and the very last thing she wanted was to drag them into her troubles. Unfortunately she also realized that to save Mercy, she needed them by her side. Besides there was no way they would allow her to go by herself. She knew she was better off not trying it alone- Winchesters had a way of not taking 'no' for an answer.

Dawn felt hands gently grasping the sides of her arms, and it made her heart flutter a bit. She relaxed when she realized who it was- although it was foolish to assume it could have been anyone else. She was standing in a hotel room with a locked door behind her, it was unlikely she would not hear someone breaking in. It was just a natural reaction to be constantly prepared for an attack. It had become just as much a part of her, as the knife at her side.

"Hey," she spoke quietly. "I am really sorry about this whole situation." Dawn apologized keeping her eyes down at the floor, as Dean stood behind her.

"Don't worry about it." He leaned in to press a soft kiss against her cheek, his lips lingered near her face. "This is what we do, Dawn. Hunting and killing the bad guys, is kinda our job."

"Yeah," she miffed and shook her head in response. "We're supposed to meet Sebastian in the lobby. I'll get the cat, you get the bags."

Dean nodded, he started to turn around, heading for the bags. "Oh, and Dean..." Dawn grasped a handful of his shirt and jolted him into her, enveloping his mouth with a gentle lip lock. She pulled away with an illuminating smile spread across her freshly kissed lips. "That was all," the room echoed with her responding giggle.

He looked at her with a sharp smile on his full lips. Dean apparently did not think 'that was all', he moved closer pressing his body against hers until she had her back to the wall. As he pressed his hips against hers, she felt her heart fluttering in her chest in an entirely different way than it had before. Dean's lips were nearly inches from hers, and she could feel the heat of his breath on her mouth. Her heart was dancing around in her chest like a caged bird trying to get free. She could feel the wings of the bird flapping wildly out of control, causing her temperature to begin it's rapid incline. She felt foolish as her breathing continued to fight her for control. As much as she wanted to force her lips against his, the anticipation was driving her insane in the best possible way. Instead of the subtle and gentle kiss that Dawn had placed on his lips, Dean went in for something much more predatory. He recklessly crushed her mouth with his own, his hands wrapping around the back of her slender neck. In only seconds their hands were exploring each others bodies- their lips still entangling in an electrifying, sparks flying, kind of kiss. Dawn had her legs wrapped around his waist, as their lips parted.

"We have to go," her words were coming out in uneven pants. She rested her forehead against his, trying to level herself.

"Yeah." Dean nodded disappointed and placed her onto the floor, her body sliding down the length of his until her feet touched the floor.

"Screw it!" She exclaimed, jumping back into his arms suddenly. They plummeted onto the hotel bed together. Tearing each others clothing off, until absolutely nothing was left. Once again, they completely ignored their responsibilities and got lost in one another. It was easy to do when they were together- they gifted each other with the perfect form of temporary amnesia.

* * *

Dawn reached for the small black cat and it quickly responded by curling into the warmth of her arms, rubbing his head against her affectionately. Dawn and Dean met Sam outside the hotel room- a little later than planned- and they made their way towards the direction of the lobby with their bags in hand. The group exited the hotel swiftly, trying to hide the contraband kitty. Once they were outside they assembled in the quiet parking lot, to discuss their next move. Sam had already been brought up to date on their little predicament and seemed shockingly unfazed. It appeared Sam had already anticipated that something would interrupt their little vacation. The fact that they had over 24 hours without a tragedy was a miracle in itself.

The four of them stood around in an awkward circle. The situation was uncomfortable for everyone involved, even Sebastian who tried hard to hide his discomfort. Although Dawn felt annoyed by the situation, at the moment she was blissfully aloof to anything negative around her.

"So what's the plan troops?" Sebastian shot them a contemptuous grin.

"I suppose we should head towards Bobby's as planned," Dawn added. "When we get there we can ask if he knows anything, maybe he can help us figure out where to find Mercy."

As she spoke Dawn stroked the small ball of fluff that was snuggled safely in her arms. The kitty expressed it's joy with a noisy purr. Dawn stood in between Dean and Sebastian, hoping to prevent any kind of unnecessary arguments. She wanted desperately to get this mess over with. It was one thing to rescue strangers from peril, but when it was someone she cared for it was much worse.

"Sounds like a plan," Dean agreed. The familiar growl to his gruff voice gave Dawn a strange comfort.

"As much as I love this whole, ex-boyfriend, new-boyfriend animosity thing we've got going on here- I highly doubt a car ride with the four of us packed together will be real comfortable." Sam shook his head, mocking the sheer unnaturalness of the situation.

"He's not riding in my car," Dean grumbled possessively.

"I have my own car and I wouldn't be caught dead in that heap of junk," Sebastian scoffed as he gestured over at the Impala. The ever-present smugness was still obvious in his words.

"Shut up, Incu-bitch!" Dean advanced forward, the maddened look in his eyes made Dawn step in front of him. She knew that there was a line with Dean, and Sebastian had crossed it- insulting the Impala definitely warranted an ass-kicking. The last thing she needed was to get in the middle of a fight over a car.

"Alright! Alright!" Dawn snapped. The volume with which she spoke, clearly demanded their silence. "You two stop bitching! Let's just get to Bobby's so I can be done with this ghost of monsters past, bullshit! Okay!?"

"Yes, mam!" Dean jerked his head at her playfully.

"Sebastian, you can follow us in your car. If we get separated somehow just call us on the cellphone." She took control of the situation, hoping she could get it resolved hastily.

"Muy Bueno," Sebastian nodded and with a smirk he strode towards the direction of his car. The brothers mouths instantly dropped to the floor when their eyes caught the vehicle that Sebastian was approaching. The Incubus opened the door to his Bugatti Veyron Supersport, which was coated in a cool white-silver color.

"Son of a bitch!" Dean cursed. His eyes growing starry as he pointed towards the sleek automobile. "That's his car?"

"Of course it is," Dawn turned her head, giving her iconic eye-roll. Her tone was glazed with an obvious disdain.

"Dawn, do you know what that is?"

"All I know is, it's brand new and really expensive," she shrugged and curled her lip in disgust.

"I didn't realize he was a millionaire," Dean couldn't prevent himself from gawking indiscreetly.

"Billionaire," she huffed.

"Isn't that going to be a bit conspicuous?" Sam looked over at a clearly aggravated Dawn.

"Of course it is!" She hissed, waving her arm in the air. "But Sebastian wouldn't drive a car that was any less conspicuous."

"You don't seem impressed," Dean raised an amused eye-brow in her direction. Although Dean was not nearly a fan of Sebastian's, he had to admit he was seduced by the flashy car in front of him.

"He was just as rich when I dated him, and just as obnoxious about it," she explained. "I just want to get out of here, and get this over with!" She sounded completely drained, her lips twisting into a pout. This was threatening to crush her previously sunny mood.

"Alright Tiger," he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Let's go."

* * *

After another long and overbearing car ride, the two cars pulled into Bobby's driveway. They had barely stopped for food and all of them accept for the Incubus were beyond exhaustion. Being that he was not human, he did not get drained from lack of sleep- it was a nice little perk. Dawn- who was the current driver- rested her head against the steering wheel as soon as she pulled the car to a halt. She let out a weary groan, and then forced her aching body to crawl out of the car. She watched as Sam and Dean made their way to Bobby who was already excitedly approaching them.

"Is that their father?" Sebastian questioned. Dawn jumped suddenly aware of his pompous form standing next to her.

"Not biologically." Her lips curved softly into a warm smile, as she watched Bobby pat the brothers on the back, quickly leading them inside. "But as long as I have known them, Bobby has been more of a father to them than my real dad has ever been to me. They would never admit it, but I think he is more of a father to them then their own father really was." Dawn reached her arms up and pulled her silky hair into a tight ponytail, wrapping the tie around the thickness of her hair.

"Seems like all you hunters have daddy issues." He leaned against the Impala still standing next to her.

"Seems like all you Incubus have ego issues," she shot him a coarse scowl and shut the car door.

Dawn shoved Sebastian backwards so that she could get into the backseat of the car. She reached for the small cat that was sitting up, staring at her with warm wide-eyes. She turned her back to Sebastian and began walking towards Bobby and the boys. Before she made it more than a few steps she felt his hand on her, his long fingers wrapping around the small frame of her forearm.

"I'm sorry," he confessed. "I didn't mean it like that." His delivery was much less biting than usual.

"Get your hand off of me!" She demanded, her eyes darting to the presence of his hand on her arm. She had developed an uneasiness to his touch. The release of an Incubus powers lay within their touch- and although she believed she had developed an immunity- she was not taking any chances.

"Are you ever going to trust me again?" He released his grasp, his eyes were now subdued with a thick despondence.

"I don't need to," she said candidly. "I left my past behind, and the last thing I want is to go back and rehash what doesn't matter anymore. I am not the same girl I was back then, and I am finally happy. I can't say it would be too good for anyone who tries to get in the way of that."

Sebastian just stared down at her, slightly taken aback at the harsh sound of her words. The smile that had seemed permanently spread across his lips, faded now and spun around into a gloomy frown. Dawn had always been this audacious girl, she had a spark that Sebastian had not seen in anyone throughout his lengthy immortal life. That spark was part of what had drawn him to her before and what had kept him from being able to let her go. But the way she acted now was different. She was not at all happy to see him and this was not an anger for what he had done to her in the past. He was a nuisance in her eyes, he was getting in her way. It was evident that she was more concerned with these Winchesters, than she was anyone else. She had changed- they had changed her.

"Just be careful what you say around Bobby okay?" She spoke over her shoulder, nearing herself to walk towards the house.

"Why's that?"

"Because, you say the wrong thing around him he is much more inclined to kill you."

Dawn continued towards the house, she could hear Sebastian trailing behind her. The cat was still in her arms, and she grew a bit nervous when she remembered why she was bringing the little fur-ball with her.

Once they were inside the house, they saw Bobby, Dean and Sam all standing around the kitchen counter. Sebastian shut the door behind them and stood behind Dawn, trying to follow her orders to be careful. He was rarely afraid of anyone, but he wanted to please her. Sebastian was growing tired of her tongue lashings, he was hoping for a bit of positive reinforcement. Clearly Dawn was the kind of woman that men don't get over so simply.

"Hey there, Bambi," Bobby gestured towards Dawn.

She quickly rushed to his side, hugging him with her free arm that was not cradling the cat. His eyes jetted to the furry animal in her arms and he gave her a questioning look.

"Bambi?" Sebastian shot them a look of bewilderment.

"Yeah- long legs, big eyes," Bobby narrowed his eyes in the direction of the stranger. "Who's the idjit?"

"Long story," Dean replied. His eyes were plagued with a thick and apparent annoyance.

"Well what's with the cat?" Bobby began tickling the head of the animal in Dawn's arms.

"Your new pet?" She smiled apprehensively. "Please Bobby! He doesn't have a home and he helped with our case."

"He did what now?"

"Another long story," Sam let out a quick snorting laugh from his nose.

"Right," Bobby nodded dubiously. "I take it y'all need my help again."

"Don't we always?" Dawn offered him an overemphasized grin. She placed the cat onto the ground and turned to Sebastian. "Why don't you go get the cat food from the car."

He did as she said, turning and heading for the Impala. It was clear that it was time for them to explain everything to Bobby and they wanted Sebastian out of the room. They gave Bobby the foot notes of the situation and explained that they needed his help finding a friend of Dawns who was in trouble.

Bobby had always been the one they went to whenever they needed help with a case. He invariably had the information they needed, or at least enough to get them where they needed to go. Without Bobby they would be in much worse shape than they were. Without their father the Winchesters brothers were running out of family, Bobby was all they had left.

Dawn had taken to Bobby immediately, and he had with her as well. She was someone that his boys could rely on, and he knew that the moment he saw the way she admired them. She was strong and a formidable hunter, and she fit in like she had always been there. Bobby did not welcome most outsiders the way he had welcomed Dawn, but she had turned out to be someone they could trust with their lives.

"So you need to know more about this sorceress and how to find and kill her?"

"Basically," Sam answered leaning over the table. He ran his hand across the length of his face, and tried to rub the exhaustion from his heavy eyes.

"Alright, I'll go look into the Lore," Bobby exhaled. "Why don't you three get some food and some rest first."

Bobby looked the three frazzled and clearly fatigued Hunters up and down. They were barely hanging on by a thread, ready to fall to the ground at any moment. He realized they needed rest, but then his thoughts drifted to the stranger that was outside. Bobby welcomed Dean, Sam and Dawn into his home whenever they needed, but he was not at ease with an Incubus sleeping under his roof.

"I can help you," Dawn chirped. "Just let me grab a quick snack and we can get into research mode."

"You sure about that?" Bobby asked, concerned. It was obvious they were all worn-out from the drive, and Dawn was no less tired than anyone else was.

"Yeah, I'll manage," she said assuredly.

"You sure your not going to be too tired?" Dean asked, grabbing the base of her ponytail affectionately.

"Of course I am going to be too tired," Dawn jested. "But I want to help Bobby with research, besides I am a big girl and I think I can handle it." She gave Dean a mirthful smirk, and he just shook his head.

Dawn walked over to the kitchen counter and grabbed a glazed doughnut from a package. She walked towards Bobby, while she scoffed down bites of the sugary snack. As long as she got some sugar into her system she would be fueled up enough for research. She followed him into the next room where he kept his books. Bobby began rummaging through a few of them and then handed one to Dawn. She sat down on the opposite side of his desk and cracked open the leather tome. It was a thick volume that went with a long standing group of books that were aligned in a shelf. Bobby sat down across from Dawn, opening a book himself.

She began turning the pages, skimming through each description and story that was on them. The book in her hands was directed towards sorceresses, sorcerers and just about any kinds of witchcraft. She looked at the different pictures and descriptions, her mind reeling at the different evil that lay underneath the pages of this book. Some of course were the exact opposite, and fought on the side of good- of course she had to get tied up with an evil sorceress. As she peered down at one of the pages. She ran her hand against the smooth paper, suddenly her vision began to grow slightly blurry. Her thoughts began racing and she instantly felt like closing her eyes. She could feel a sense like her surroundings were changing and her site was filling with a vision of a young girl with jet black hair and muddy brown eyes. It seemed like the girls arms were tied behind her back. Dawn tried to focus but the vision before her was still just out of reach.

"So," Bobby began. The sound of his voice quickly brought Dawn out of the strange trance- or vision- that she was recently encompassed by. She quickly jolted her head up to look at Bobby who was staring down at the book in his lap, oblivious to Dawn's little cat-nap.

"Yeah?" She answered, trying to regain her composure. The vision had not been harsh and after she came back to reality it almost felt as if she had never even left.

"What is going on between you and Dean?" Bobby questioned, his tone remained placid. "Did the idjit finally man up?" He finally released an amused grumbling chuckle.

"Yeah, you could say that," Dawn couldn't help but smile at the sound of his laughter.

Dawn's eyes drifted to the page underneath her hands, the picture was of a young black haired girl. She had been burned for witchcraft, sadly this young girl was of pure intention, and worked for the same side that Dawn and the Winchesters fought on. This was clearly the same girl that Dawn had seen in her vision, she felt instantly overcome with shock. The feelings from the vision were still vague, but she could barely reach the memory of what she had seen, and there was no doubt it was of the girl she was now staring at. This was impossible, how could she have seen a vision from touching a book? She didn't get visions, that was never her "thing". She shook it off, deciding she must have just dozed off after she had already looked at the picture of the girl. Although, she did not recall looking at the photo before she "dozed off". She ignored the seemingly ridiculous idea, realizing that it was impossible.

"So that pricey set of wheels in my driveway...that would be your ex-boyfriend's?" He looked up at her now, removing his eyes from the thick volume in his hands. He was leaning over the table, the book laid out on top of a pile of various papers.

"Yeah, he's always owned whatever high priced piece of crap he could get his hands on." She spat the words with an obvious contempt, leaning her body back more comfortably in her chair. She was careful to keep her hands from touching the book in her lap, unless she was focused on what she was reading.

Dawn had never been the type of person to get caught up in money and material goods. She was substance over style, and the life of a hunter was much more substantial than it was stylish.

"So you could be with a fancy rich fella like that," Bobby speculated. "And you chose to stick around, waiting all this time for Dean Winchester to wise up and get his head out of his ass?"

"Basically," she nodded and pursed her lips together.

"Good luck with that," he snorted. "I s'pose I can't say you don't know what your dealing with. Since you came around I have had to listen to half the whining and complaining from those to that I used to. So I assumed either you shut them up- which is doubtful- or you have been listening to their bitching."

"It's a little of both," she added.

"Well, would you look at that. Is this your witch?" Bobby held the book up so that Dawn could see the picture he was looking at.

Dawn looked at the picture of a tall thin woman, with long wavy blond locks of hair falling around her. She had dark purple-blue eyes, and a narrow, thin face. She was beautiful, and yet something about her powerful appearance was frightening.

"Yes," Dawn's eyes glazed over with an uneasy expression. She seemed afraid, and the only time she had that look was when someone she cared for was in danger.

"Who's the hottie?" Dean's voice filled the room.

"It's Dawn's Sorceress," Bobby replied. He placed the book down in front of him so that he could begin reading.

"Where are the warts and wrinkles? Shouldn't she be hideous?"

"No," Dawn exhaled dramatically. "Gweniss is beautiful, since she has the magic to keep herself young. Basically like having access to the fountain of youth."

"So what's it say?" Dean asked anxiously. Bobby just shot him an agitated look and continued reading to himself.

"I thought you were going to sleep?" Dawn whispered, trying not to disturb Bobby's reading.

"Couldn't sleep," he shrugged. "Besides, the Incu-bitch said he was sleeping in his car. I figured I would let you know, and I told him it was probably a good idea."

"Yeah, probably a wise decision," she looked up at Dean from her chair.

"So what'yah got Bobby?" Dean asked again, pestering Bobby who let out an irritated breath.

"Not much we can use," he replied disappointed. "It just talks about her being a powerful Sorceress-Phoenix hybrid creature. Talks about how Iron is useful against her just like with a Phoenix but getting close enough to kill her is going to be very tricky. She has some serious power, you guys sure you want to go up against this one?"

"We have no choice," Dean assured him. He knew they had to go after this sorceress in order to keep Dawn safe.

"Well, I suppose I can keep researching but there really isn't anything in here that can help us figure out how to kill her, or how to find her."

"Can I see that book?" Dawn asked apprehensively, reaching her hand towards the table in front of her.

Bobby slid the book across the table so that she could reach it. She grasped the volume, trying not to let her nerves overcome her. She placed it into her lap like before, and slid her hand over the discolored paper that had a picture of Gweniss on it. She took in a sustaining breath and tried to allow herself to drift off like she had done before. It had seemed as though when she was tired and began growing distracted from reality, the vision appeared- so she hoped for the same reaction now.

As the connection began to form, Dawn could feel the air around her change. She felt herself touch the edges of the vision, and her thoughts were brought to the site of Gweniss. She could feel the darkness in the woman's soul as she stood tall, the forceful wind whipping her hair around her face. She had a depraved look on her wickedly beautiful face. Dawn caught sight of what she was doing, trying to allow herself to drift deeper into the vision.

In an instant she was being rushed back into reality, with the feeling of strong hands grasping her shoulders. She opened her eyes and was overloaded by the site of Dean in front of her, Bobby standing next to him.

"Are you okay?" Dean shouted, his voice an uneven expression of his nerves.

"I'm fine!" She exclaimed sitting up and reaching for her head. She was dizzy this time, which was different than before.

"You fell backwards and it was strange, it didn't seem like you were sleeping." Dean held onto her like he was afraid to let go. He was looking into her azure eyes eyes for some sign of what was had happened. He seemed overly protective lately.

"I promise I am okay," she sighed. "I had a vision, of Gweniss."

"A vision?" Bobby asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Yeah, I had it before when I was looking through the other book but I didn't want to say anything because I thought it might be a dream. But there is no way it was just a dream." She shook her head, remembering the feelings she experienced when she started going deeper into the vision. "I want to try again, this could be our only shot at finding out where she is. I want to try directing the vision, maybe I can see exactly where she is now?"

"Dawn, this doesn't feel like a good idea," Dean declared.

"Just don't let me stay in it for too long," she looked into his eyes, which were only inches from her face. "I need to do this." It was clear that she was not taking no for an answer.

"Just be careful."

She nodded and leaned backwards again. She ran her fingers over the picture, but instead of letting go she focused on her thoughts trying to center them somewhere specific. She thought about Gweniss and where she was right now, trying to hone in on her actual location. It was hard trying to force her thoughts to center somewhere specific, it was clear that the vision wanted control back. Eventually it yielded to her strength and her mind began forming the site around her.

She began to feel a sense of comfort at the site before her. It was a beach, one she had been to many times as a child in California. It was close to her home, not far from where her sister was at this very moment. She breathed in the salt air around her, then suddenly her eyes caught site of Gweness. She remembered why she was here, why she had led her vision here. Gweniss stood wearing a long black dress, and her eyes appeared a dark liquid color as she stared down from a large hill. In an flash the treacherous woman was standing in front of Dawn, holding her face in her hands.

"You are learning well my pet," her voice was smooth, alluring and at the same time repellent. "You wanted to find where I was, well you have. But now it's my turn to show you something," she narrowed her make-up covered eyes.

Dawn felt herself losing grip of the vision, losing strength and losing every little semblance of control. She could feel it yielding to Gweniss, and she was utterly powerless to stop it. She tried continuously but it only made her feel more out of control. When she stopped trying she looked around and saw Gweniss about ten feet away from her. She saw her grasping onto Dean, with a knife in her bony hand. Dawn tried to rush towards them, even though she knew what she was watching was not real, she couldn't stand by and watch. But when she tried to rescue him, she felt her arms being pulling backwards. As she looked around her shoulders, she noticed her arms were chained behind her back and were wrapped around a pole. She fought against the chains, which were thin and were nothing she had ever seen before.

"This is what happens Dawn." Gweniss stared over at Dawn, grasping the weak and bloodied Dean. She was holding his limp body onto his feet. "You bring him here and he dies, you can't stop it. I am not lying to you, and you can feel it can't you?" Her voice was dull and emotionless.

Dawn began panting as she looked at Dean in a near unconscious state. She instantly felt a sickness in the center of her being that overwhelmed her. She couldn't break the chains no matter how hard she pushed against them, she could feel warm blood dripping down her hands from the pressure she was applying against the chains. No matter how hard she forced against her bindings, she could not break herself free.

Her eyes grew wide as she watched Gweniss shove the blade into Deans throat. Dawn felt the sharp blade pierce deep inside her own chest. Every part of her being felt torn, crashing around her inside the hole of this this null reality. She could feel the pieces of her heart shattering so small that they could pass through the narrow eye of a needle. She forced her lids closed, clamping them tightly in hopes that what she had seen would disappear. She tried to cry out but instantly could feel the world she lived in bleeding into her vision and she began losing hold.

When Dawn opened her eyes, she felt reality crash in on her abruptly. She felt those same familiar strong hands grasping her tightly, and she instantly saw his face staring at her. When her eyes met Dean's enchanting green orbs, she promptly wrapped her arms around his neck practically knocking him over. She was breathing heavily and shaking with fear. She kept seeing his face, and remembering as Gweniss killed him. It was not real, but it felt as real as her arms wrapped around him. She couldn't help but sob into his shirt, unable to hold back the equal parts of pain and joy she was feeling. She squeezed the warmth of his body tightly against her, not wanting to release him. What mattered was that Dean was alive now and she could change what Gweniss had shown her. She could prevent the vision from coming true, she could prevent the future from coming at all. Because she had to.


	7. Ashes To Ashes

Notes (Please Read): It is longer than the last few have been which I am happy about. My original idea was longer but I decided it would be too thick, I hope you like this version!

I am considering doing a Halloween special centered chapter next week- if I get at least two reviews I will definitely go for it.

Pretty please let me know what you think if you have a few seconds! I haven't been getting many reviews and I just want to make sure everyone is enjoying what they are reading.

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or Buffy the Vampire Slayer and they belong to Eric Kripke and Joss Whedon along with their other owners. I only write the story and the characters are not mine, accept for a few original characters.

* * *

The brunette closed her eyes, her cheek pressed against the now warm side of the soft cotton pillow. She lay completely reposed, with her bare stomach flat against the comfort of the mattress. Seemingly never-ending locks of her dark hair fell around her on the bed, and lay weightlessly across her back. Her breathing was an even expression of her peaceful form, drifting around the edges of sleep.

Dawn had endured enough stress for a lifetime in only a few days- yet still she felt an ease when she was with Dean that was almost impenetrable by any fears. With him, she was capable of blissfully escaping the terrors that faced her when it became time to take on the day. She would still confront those threats when she must, but sometimes the comfort of being free was the best gift anyone could give.

Dean brushed her long silken strands of hair aside, freeing the bare skin of her back to the surrounding cool air. With her hair brushed aside it revealed an anti-possession tattoo at the base of her neck, that Dawn had gotten not long after meeting the Winchesters. Dean continued by tracing his fingertips across her smooth skin, gliding along the appealing curve of her back. Dawn shivered from the contrast of the cool air to the touch of his warm hand against her. The corners of her lips bent into a contended smile at the comforting feel of his touch.

Dean bent down so that he could press his lips against her unclothed shoulder, continuing downward as he placed tender kisses across her back. In response her muscles began to tense, and the muffled sound of a quivering whimper escaped from her throat. When he began kissing the back of her slender neck, the noises escaping her lips were much less subtle. With a satisfied grin Dean leaned closer and brought his lips to hers, as he held the side of her face in his hand. When he was finished he rested his head against the pillow, his face only inches away from hers.

"Sleep well?" He asked, his breath flooding her nostrils with it's warmth.

"Considering everything that's' going on, I actually slept pretty well." Dawn cleared her throat, trying to bring it out of it's former sleeping state.

"So...Are you ever going to tell me what you saw in that vision that left you looking like you saw a ghost?" He narrowed his eyes at his own foolish comment. "Okay, maybe not a ghost- since you have seen plenty of those before. But...you know what I mean."

"I can't really remember what scared me so much-"

She winced at the sound of the untruth and how utterly perfect her delivery was- she was ashamed of her ability to lay deceit on someone she cared so much about. The very last thing Dawn wanted was to conceal the truth from Dean, but she knew it was something she could not share with him- not now at least. But the taste of the perjury left a repulsive, bitter flavor in her mouth, that she feared would not go away until she confessed the truth.

"Well- as strange as your little on-command vision was- it helped us find out where we have to go next. Which means we can find your friend."

"And this can all be over with!" She released a loud breath from inside her lungs, feeling a twinge of joy at the thought of ending her current troubles.

"Dawn-" He spoke, drawing her attention once again to the proximity of his face. The glossy sheen of his large emerald eyes, drew her into their distracting beauty.

Before Dean could speak again, there was a gentle pounding on the door to the guest room they were staying in.

"Hey! We made breakfast if you guys want to come down. We were hoping to figure out our game plan." Sam hollered from the other end of the wooden door.

"We'll be down in a minute, Sammie!" Dean shouted back to his brother. His eyes darted back to Dawn, his thick eyelashes prominent. "Breakfast?" He grabbed a hold of the opening he saw to avoid the subject he had been nervous to talk about.

"Sure," Dawn nodded. She could sense his uneasy tone, but she decided to leave it alone. "I'll meet you down there."

"Okay." He gave her a quick peck on the lips and quickly climbed out of bed.

She watched in full appreciation as Dean got dressed. He was fully aware of her eyes on him and it made him grin. Once he was finished dressing he rushed towards the scent of the freshly made food, shutting the door behind him when he left.

Dawn rolled over onto her back, her eyes fixated on the ceiling. She focused on each little glob of Spackle painted in white on the surface above her. She sucked in a prolonged breath and exhaled the air from her lungs dramatically.

Her thoughts were continuously being pulled towards the same dreadful memory, no matter how hard she tried to ignore it. It was clear that this was something she was not going to dismiss so easily. Dawn had never been a fan of prophesy or visions of any sort- so the fact that she had experienced a vision was not a comfort in any way. What she saw, was beyond terrifying and no matter how much she tried to convince herself it meant nothing, her emotions betrayed her mind. She had always known any kind of prophesy to be often misleading, but it always had some merit to it. What she had seen- what Gweniss had shown her- was difficult to misunderstand.

Her brain kept dragging that memory- that dreaded memory- to the surface, and repeatedly replaying it like a video. She kept seeing Gweniss, kill the only man she ever loved. _Loved._ As much as she knew deep down it was true, she had never had the strength to admit to it. But it was true- she loved him- endlessly. And now she was faced with the worst possible fear, a vision had told her she would lose him.

Dawn squeezed her eyes shut as tightly as she could, nearly giving herself a headache from the oppressive force crushing down against her lids. Maybe she could keep the site from appearing, the vision that had been burned into her memory. It made her heart race, it made her throat dry, nearly causing every cell in her being to petrify. Dawn was rarely afraid of much, but fearing for the ones she loved was almost like a full time job. Just the mere thought of losing Dean, was enough to cripple her. Seeing his life end- even though it had only been a vision that a sorceress had shown her- was the most gut-wrenching feeling she had ever experienced. Because in that moment she knew she was gone and there was no rescuing him.

The difference between a vision and reality, is that the visions foretold what was to come. The future was ever-changing, and someone simply knowing it was enough to alter it. Dawn knew enough about future predicting visions to know that she could change what she saw, she could make one step in a different direction and erase the entire path that had been ahead of her. She also knew that even though you could know the future, it meant very little. Her sister Buffy had been told that she was going to die, and it was true- Buffy died and came back to life. Nothing was ever set in stone, even after death. Dawn was a fighter, she had never given up on the ones she loved. She was not going to give up now, no matter what that meant. She would make the ultimate sacrifice, she would do anything.

Dawn slid the thick down comforter off of her bare body and moved her long legs over the edge of the bed. She dressed herself quickly and headed towards the direction of the kitchen. Once she was near enough, her nostrils were flooded with the many scents that had been cooking in the kitchen. She recognized the delicious greasy scent of bacon and she could hear it sizzling and crackling on the frying pan. She also caught a whiff of cinnamon which brought a delighted smile to her lips.

"Morning!" Sam greeted her, as he sat down at the kitchen counter with a heaping plate of breakfast goodies and a glass of orange juice in his hands.

"Good morning," she offered.

"Here you go," Dean handed her a glass of orange juice. "Sit down, I have your plate over here."

"Thank you," she gave him a surprised smile. She sat down and took a gulp from her glass.

She watched as Bobby and Sebastian sat down at the table with their plates. Dean quickly followed with his food and Dawns as well. He placed hers in front of her, a pile of bacon next to a stack of cinnamon french toast which he knew she loved. Dean's plate was filled with every kind of breakfast food known to man, and maybe even a few that weren't.

"It looks delicious," she complimented, her eyes-wide. She breathed in the delicious scent of her food, as she poured her syrup onto the stack of french toast that was making her salivate.

For the first few minutes the only sounds that were heard were the clinking of silverware against the plates, and a few crunching sounds as they chewed. For Dawn, Dean and Sam this was a special treat, although they ate decent food on the road sometimes, there was nothing like a home cooked meal. After they had eaten most of their breakfast and were at the over-stuffed stage, the guys slowly continuing to pick at their scraps- they began talking about their plan of attack.

"I think we should take her by surprise," Sebastian suggested. "If we take a plane we can get there much faster than she expects us to."

"What do you s'pect to do when you get there?" Bobby groaned, staring the Incubus down. "Idjit," he mumbled under his breath. It was clear by his demeanor towards Sebastian that he most certainly did not enjoy his company.

"I agree with Bobby. Besides, there is no way in hell I am getting on a plane." Dean's eyes grew wide with anxiety at the thought of flying, his stomach instantly twisting into fearful knots.

"We know that iron works against her, don't we?" Sebastian added, trying to hide his annoyance at the continuous insults flying his way. In most situations he would not stand for it, but Dawn had requested that he be careful what he said. He despised the feeling of biting his tongue- he had lived longer than most people could imagine, and he had grown rather accustomed to his way of thinking being the right way.

"But we have to get close enough to kill her," Sam chimed in. "Maybe an iron-tipped arrow?"

"That might work," Bobby considered with a nod. "We still need a concrete plan. Just marching in there and shooting her with an arrow sounds a lot easier than it actually is. She is not just your run of the mill spell-casting Wicca, she is a full-fledged sorceress. Just one blow from her and you'll be needing help just to go to the bathroom for the rest of your natural born life."

"I have an idea," Dawn declared, keeping herself composed.

The four men quickly looked towards her, at the hearing of her sudden announcement. They waited for her to continue, all their eyes focused directly on her. A plan was exactly what they needed, no matter how crazy or farfetched. If Dawn was announcing that she had an idea, than she had something solid, something they can use. Granted her idea's were often crazy and risky- usually on her part- they also had a high success rate. She had learned a lot from living with the Slayer.

"As long as it doesn't involve me flying," Dean groaned. "Than I'm in."

* * *

"Where's Dean?" Sam asked, his eyes darting to Dawn as she walked towards him.

"He's passed out." She sat down in the seat next to Sam and lifted her glass of champagne from the cup holder next to her. "I gave him a _mild_ sedative."

"Mild?" Sebastian chuckled sarcastically. "You gave him a horse pill."

"I had to, otherwise we never would have been able to get him on the plane." Dawn took a sip from the champagne flute and swallowed down the fizzling liquid. "By the way- thanks for letting us use your private jet, Sebastian."

"Of course," Sebastian grinned from ear to ear. This was the first kind comment he had received from Dawn since he had seen her for the first time in over a year.

"And this champagne is delicious," she chirped an overemphasized inflection at the end of her sentence.

"I thought you weren't afraid of flying?" Sam wrinkled his forehead as he looked at Dawn gulping down her alcohol.

"I'm not," she lowered her eyes at him. "I am just not real comfortable with following through with crazy and dangerous missions that I happen to be the perpetrator of."

"It's going to be fine, Dawn," Sam shook his head. She always had a comical and whimsical way about her that kept him and everyone else amused.

"I hope so-"

Dawn looked out of the narrow airplane window, to her right. She leaned her head back against the plushy seat and stared at the fluffy white clouds. Although she knew her plan was crazy, it seemed like the only thing that would work- for now. The most important factor was that it was meant to keep Dean safe, while still rescuing Mercy. She hated feeling like she was gambling between the lives of people she cared for, choosing who meant more to her. She hoped that the plan she had set into motion would prevent that decision from coming to pass.

Dean stayed asleep until the plane landed, the motion of the plane touching ground brought him to consciousness. Thankfully it was too late for him to go into completely panic, by the time he was fully awake. Dawn explained everything to him and he was not at all pleased that she practically knocked him out, but it was better than having to sit through an entire flight awake.

They had already put together everything they needed for their mission. Now all they needed to do was head for their destination. Dawn had received enough from the vision to know almost exactly where Gweniss had been hiding. There were a few buildings near the beach that looked exactly the same and a few of them had been abandoned for years. Dawn knew that Gweniss was keeping Mercy in one of those buildings. She followed the truth that she knew was apart of her being, apart of the Key. No matter how senseless it seemed to everyone else, the vision led her here but who she was, had filled in the blanks for her.

* * *

She slid her gun into it's holster and pulled her hair back into the usual tight ponytail that was required for fighting. She breathed in the cool air and closed her eyes- saying a silent prayer for this insane idea of hers to hold strong. She peeled her lids open, staring at the front door of the building that made her insides feel like tight knots. That sick feeling in the deepest part of her gut, indicated that this was the place where Gweniss was inhabiting.

The plan had already been set in motion and there was no turning back now. Gweniss knew that Dawn was outside- there was no questioning that. She rushed for the building and slammed her foot against the front door. The force sent the frail door crashing down with a loud smash, dust billowing from the sides as it touched the ground. She stormed inside with a strong conviction in each step she made. The building was baron and it was nearly falling apart, pillars barely standing together and holding the roof in place. Just another spider ridden place that was old and falling apart- of course!

Dawn spotted Mercy, who was tied to a chair, her mouth covered and her eyes shut. She hesitated, looking around for the sorceress, the villain who had led her here. Her eyes met the evil that had been plaguing her- Gweniss stood only a few feet away from Mercy with a grin on her stunning face.

"Hello," her solid and dangerous voice echoed throughout the room. "You certainly have gumption, don't you young lady?"

"I'm here to negotiate." Dawn clutched the gun at her side, allowing her anger to pool into the tightness of her grasp. It was vital that she stay calm and in control at this moment.

"Then why did you bring an Incubus?" Gweniss cocked her head to the side and narrowed her impressive eyes, which were the exact shade of a Violets petals.

"Protection," she spoke with a pronounced assertiveness.

Dawn knew that for this plan to work, she had to be strong. There was not a sound of weakness in her voice, she refused to let her vocal cords betray her with even one shaky octave.

"Wise I suppose," she gave Dawn a dreadful sneer. "Accept it wont do much good."

"I don't plan on fighting you." Dawn removed her hand from her weapon which was still holstered. "I just want to make a deal."

"I'm listening," Gweniss nodded.

"A fair trade," she gestured with her hands. "Me, for Mercy's freedom."

Dawn knew that this was the moment where she had to make every move perfect. If she made one mistake, everything could go horribly wrong. She knew Gweniss was just as skilled at reading people as Dawn was, even more so. The key to accomplishing their mission, was for Dawn to steady her expressions, not giving anything away.

"Deal," Gweniss nodded, seemingly pleased. "But I advise that you play no tricks. For your own safety." Raising one drastically thin eye-brow, the sorceress advanced a step closer.

"No tricks," Dawn assured her. "I just want you to untie Mercy, and she will go with the Incubus."

"Fine," the sorceress agreed. It was obvious that she was growing excited, she was inches away from what she wanted. She was moments away from unlimited powers.

Gweniss slowly made her way towards Mercy who was still unconscious and tied to the chair. She raised her open hand up in the air, and swiftly brought it down against Mercy's face. Her hand met her cheek with a loud smacking sound. Dawn held back, her lip curling into a near snarl at the rage boiling inside of her. She could hear Gweniss chuckled deep in her throat at Dawn's clear reaction. She quickly tore the tape from Mercy's mouth.

Mercy opened her eyes and looked up at the sorceress with a terrified expression on her delicate features. Gweniss flicked her fingers and instantly the ropes fell to the ground and Mercy fell to her knees as she was released from her bindings.

"Sebastian!" Dawn hollered and the Incubus appeared from the shadows. "Take her and get out of here!" She ordered, her voice hollow.

Sebastian did as she said with a quick acknowledging nod. He rushed to Mercy lifting her from the dusty cement flooring below her bloody knees. He collected her into his arms and disappeared the same way he came. The speed of an Incubus was another useful talent they possessed.

"So we are finally alone," a tight-lipped smile emerged on the sorceress's face.

"Not quite," Dawn gestured, shooting her a sarcastic expression.

Suddenly Gweniss glared at Dawn, her eyes instantly widened and grew a much darker blackened color. Before any dangerous words could escape her lips, her eyes drifted to the sound of something whizzing across the room. The object was coming from a balcony above her, and it struck her stomach with a penetrating force. The arrow- which had a specified iron-tip on it- slid through her center like butter. The speed that it traveled from Sam's bow, was so swift that Gweniss never even saw it coming. She also did not see the archer, until she felt the arrow strike her insides.

Dawn had decided that a cloaking spell would be their best coarse of action. The problem was that Gweniss was far too powerful not to notice the presence of someone in the room, even with a powerful cloaking spell. The only way to avoid her noticing Sam's presence, was if Dawn distracted her and was conniving enough to convince her that no one else was there- accept for Dawn and Sebastian of course. The plan had worked, Dawn had mislead Gweniss into believing that they were alone, long enough for Sam to pull back his bow. It seemed the sorceress's vanity had become her undoing.

Gweniss just stared down at her stomach, her mouth completely agape. Black oozed from her insides as she let out a loud shrill scream. Dawn began running towards the stairs that led to Sam, but before she could get there Gweniss looked in her direction with a terrifying rage inside her black eyes. She waved her hand towards Dawn, sending her flinging across the room and smashing against the harsh brick wall. She fell to the ground, feeling like she couldn't breath, trying to make a sound but nothing would exit her mouth. She quickly realized that she merely had the wind knocked out of her and she would be okay, accept for the mouthful of blood that she spat onto the cement.

Dawn peered at Gweniss, who was clearly in pain, but not at all dead. She looked at the arrow and it's placement, as Gweniss pulled it from her stomach with another blood-curdling scream. Dawn forced herself to rise to her feet as she saw Sam rushing down the steps. Gweniss still seemed to be writhing in pain, but not nearly as immobile as they had hoped. Once Sam reached her, he wrapped an arm around her trying to brace her.

"Sam, just run!" She shouted.

"Dawn-"

"Listen to me! Run!" She ordered.

Dawn reached into her knife holster and unsheathed the blade. Gweniss began advancing towards them once again and Sam followed Dawn's demands once he realized what she was doing. She hurled the dagger towards Gweniss, turning and following Sam up the steps as soon as it left her fingertips. The dagger struck Gweniss directly where Dawn had aimed- her heart. As she made her way up the stairs, she caught the aftermath out of the corner of her eye. Dawn was never much for standing and staring at the tornado as it roared towards her, but this site was something she could not help but watch.

Dawn's usual knife had been replaced with an iron plated blade, which although was slightly heavier, was much more lethal in this situation. Once the weapon pierced the heart of the sorceress-phoenix hybrid, she combusted into a bright colorful flame. The colors were magnificent and nearly impossible not to get lost in the site. The large flame licked towards the roof, bright colors of reds, blues and greens all mingled together in one glowing force. The fire formed a large hand, and the finale death cry of the creature enveloped the entire building and maybe even reached as far as the entire block. As the fire grew larger, Dawn chased Sam out of the building. Once she left flames exploded in a finale dance, and imploded into itself, leaving a large pile of ashes on the cement floor.

Even though she could barely hold herself upward, Dawn forced her legs to carry her down the outside steps and towards the rental car that was parked outside. Once she got close Sam wrapped his arm around her once again, nearly carrying her to the car.

"Sam," Dawn groaned. "Go around to the other-side so that we can sit Mercy between us. I am sure she is hurt much worse than I am."

Sam did as she said after helping Dawn into the car, he ran around to the other side of Mercy. Dean was behind the wheel and Sebastian was sitting in the passenger side. Once they were all safely in the car Dean began driving as far away from the building as he could. They had also done a cloaking spell on Dean, keeping him safe from Gweniss. Dawn's plan kept Dean as far away from the sorceress as possible. She felt an instant relief wash over her, as she realized he was safe- for now at least.

Dawn looked over at Mercy who was weakly leaning against the seat. The car swerved and before Dawn could grab her Mercy went flying towards Sam, landing in his lap. She peeled her exhausted eyes open and peered up at Sam's face. He grasped her so that she would not fall off the seat. Her eyes met his and she got lost in the warmth of his hazel stare.

"Are...are you an angel?" She whispered feebly. Her voice was crackly and tired, but there was still a graceful fluidity to it.

"No," he chuckled, staring down at her. "I'm Sam."

Mercy looked beautiful even in her worn state. Her dark red hair was messy and wild, but still enchanting. Her cerulean eyes, bore flecks of green throughout. Her lips were full and voluptuous, the top lip dipping up and down in a dramatic, wide "m" shape. They were chapped from dehydration but the beauty was still visible. Her petite face was covered in delicate, pale freckles. She stared up at Sam as if he were the most astonishing thing she had ever seen.

"Mercy," Dawn whispered bracing her own aching stomach with her arm.

Mercy quickly sat up and looked in the direction of Dawn's voice. Her stunning blue eyes stared at her long lost best-friend. Her lips parted, her mouth falling open in shock.

"Dawn?" Her eyes filled with tears and she swallowed the lump in her throat. "Is it really you?"

"Yeah," Dawn smiled holding back her own tears.

Mercy jumped forward, wrapping her skinny arms around Dawn tightly. Dawn refused to let out a pained moan when she squeezed her injuries. She could feel tears against her skin as Mercy sobbed against her.

"You came to rescue me," she sniffled, still not releasing her hold.

"Of course I did." Dawn grasped her friend tightly ignoring the pain she felt, as Mercy fell asleep resting on her shoulder.

The rest of the car ride was relatively quiet, as they rushed to the nearby hotel in hopes of repairing the two wounded women in the back seat. They knew that Gweniss would not remain in the form of ashes for long, but they had some time. They had weeks, maybe even a month- but they had time and they had Mercy. The plan had succeeded, and it would hold Gweniss off long enough for them to concoct a new plan, one that would end her for good.

* * *

Mercy lay asleep in the hotel bed, after they had already patched her up as best they could. She did not have any major injuries and other than the need of a long nights rest, she was perfectly fine. Dawn on the other hand had taken quite the blow from being flung through the air by the Gwen-bitch- as Dean would call her. She didn't seem to have internal bleeding, that they were aware of. But she was in a lot of pain and clearly suffered from a cracked rib. They wrapped her up and tried to secure the injured bone as best they could. Dawn argued that she did not need to go to a hospital since this was not her first cracked rib.

"I guess we should stay here long enough for you two to heal," Dean sat down next to Dawn on the pull out sofa.

"You know I'll be fine." Dawn was used to traveling with injuries, she had been through much worse than a crackled rib. "But Mercy will probably need some time. She's not used to having the crap beat out of her."

"Does anyone else find it really screwed up that we ARE used to having the crap beat out of us?" Sam mused, looking over at Dean and Dawn.

"Extremely," Dawn giggled at the thought.

Dawn looked over at Mercy, who had begun stirring. Her eyes fluttered open and she let out a soft whimper as she woke. As soon as he eyes opened she reached her frail arm up to her head.

"Ouch!" She moaned at the instant flooding of pain.

"Are you okay?" Dawn quickly rose to her feet and made her way to her friends side.

"Yeah," her sweet voice was very faint. "I have a bit of a headache...and I am starving!"

"We'll get you some food." Dawn smiled and reached her hand up to rest on Mercy's shoulder.

"I'll go find something," Dean offered.

He stood up from his seat and headed for the door, to begin his search for worthy food. Searching for food in random towns was something they were used to as Hunters. They had become unnaturally talented at food hunting.

Mercy's face held an intrigued grin, as she watched Dean exit the room. She could feel a flood of emotions between the two of them from her empath powers. She had been away from her friend for far too long. Just the idea that Dawn had been dating someone without her knowledge, brought a twinge of sorrow to her being. There was a time not too long ago where Mercy and Dawn had shared everything with one another, and she missed that. Seeing her best-friend again- no matter how unpleasant the circumstances- made her ecstatic.

"I can see we have a lot to catch up on," Mercy looked at Dawn with a suggestive expression. "Was that Dean?"

"How do you know his name?" Dawn instantly furrowed her brow, wrinkling her forehead in confusion.

"Sebastian keeps tabs on you," the red-head frowned. "I told him it was a really bad idea, but I also wanted to know that you were okay." She shrugged her shoulders, her expression innocent and ashamed all at once.

In that moment Dawn was almost glad Sebastian was resting in his own room he had rented out. The last thing she wanted was to have to punch him in the face because she couldn't control her anger. He had been somewhat helpful and she knew once she cooled off she would be able to let this news go.

"It's okay." She sighed, trying to let go of her irritation with the release of her breath. "I'm just glad you are here and you are okay."

"Yeah, thanks for the big rescue by the way-" She hesitated and then looked over at Sam. "I think your friend is feeling a bit uncomfortable."

Dawn chuckled and shook her head back and forth. She realized that Mercy was feeling Sam's emotions, which was why she knew he was uncomfortable. Although Mercy often was able to ignore her empath abilities, if the emotions of the people around her were strong enough she felt them regardless. Being an empath had it's pros and cons, but mostly it was more of a curse than a gift.

"Sam, why don't you come over here and sit with us." Dawn spun around to look at Sam, who was sitting nervously in a nearby chair.

He rose to his feet, and walked towards them, his tall form towering above them as they sat on the bed. There was an instant recurrence of their previous meeting, as they both stared at each other for a few moments.

"Um, why don't you two get to know each other, while I go have a little chat with Sebastian." Dawn quickly rose to her feet, leaving the awkward silence between Mercy and Sam.

She walked down the hall until she made it to his room. She hesitated for a moment, considering what exactly she was doing, then responded by slamming her closed fist against the door a few times. The force with with she knocked against the door would hurt most people, but she had used those fists to punch demons, a door was nothing.

The hotel door swung open and Sebastian stood in front of her shirtless. His firm, athletic physique staring her directly in the face. He looked at her with a baffled expression, reaching up to slide his long strands of golden hair from his forehead.

"Can I come in?" She waved her hands sarcastically in the air, and tilted her head in a questioning expression.

"Uh, of course!" He stepped backwards, opening the door further so that she could enter.

"Nice room!" Dawn widened her crystal eyes at the site in front of her. It was an obviously oversized room for just one person, but then again that was always Sebastian.

"Your always welcome to join me," he grinned, lewdly gawking at her.

"Cut it out," she sighed, her eyes tapering in her annoyance. "I came to talk."

"Want to sit?" Sebastian waved his arm towards a large fancy couch.

"Fine. But only after you put a shirt on." She pointed at his bare chest with tightly pursed lips.

He turned around and grabbed a white shirt from the large dark wood bureau. He slid the tight fitted t-shirt over his head and Dawn turned around. It may have seemed strange to turn around as he was putting his shirt on, but there was a method to her madness. A man with muscles that large, caused those muscles to tense as he slid a shirt over his head. Thus, she had perfect reasoning for turning away from the site before her.

They both sat down on the couch, Dawn looked around at the over-embellished room. Just as she remembered- dating Sebastian had certainly had it's perks. She was treated like a queen- she had everything she could dream for, and more. She had spent many weeks in hotel rooms even better than this one, in beautiful tropical locations which she would never forget.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" He asked, his chocolate colored eyes staring her down intently.

"Mercy told me that you have been keeping track of me," she raised an eye-brow quizzically. "So you came to give me another lecture?" His face dropped in disappointment- he had hoped for something else.

"I came to tell you that I get it. I guess...I am even a little touched that you worry about me." She smiled generously, leaving Sebastian with a stunned expression. "Also I wanted to thank you for your help, and for telling me about Mercy in the first place."

"Of course," he nodded, his eyes growing very serious.

"I still think about you from time to time," she took in a lengthy breath. "And I do still care about you. But things are different with Dean. For once in my life, I actually feel like I belong somewhere. Our lives fit together in the strangest way, and it just makes sense with him."

"In a way that it didn't with me?" He looked at her now, with a melancholy in his powerful eyes that made her sad. "Is it because of what I did to you?"

"No. I forgive you for all of that, oddly enough I kind of understand. Although, I would never do what you did, I get now why you did it."

"Now that your in love with Dean-"

"Yes. I can't explain why it's different now. I mean, most women would kill to be with you. You can offer the world-"

"No..." he shook his head. "I can't offer you the world- I'm not human." He sighed, his usually upbeat personalty was diminished now.

Dawn felt a pain slicing through her, a sadness for the point he was making. He was right- he could not offer her everything a human could. He could not offer her any slice of normalcy, he could not offer her a real future. Even in a world of the supernatural, Dean could offer her what the Incubus couldn't.

"Even if you could offer all the things a human can-"

"Just say it Dawn," he breathed, trying to maintain his calm. "Children-"

"Yeah," she bit her bottom lip, trying to restrain her emotions. She felt like almost like crying- for him. "It's not just about that though. You and I are both very different, in ways that don't fit." She ducked her head down quickly, trying to avoid the expression on Sebastian's face.

"I understand-"

"I've moved on, and now it's your turn." She reached up to place a hand on his shoulder affectionately. "I know everyone says this, but you really are going to find someone perfect for you. There are plenty of women- human or supernatural- that would kill to be with someone like you," she promised, trying to reassure him.

Dawn felt guilty for being the cause of Sebastian's heartache, no matter how deserved it may be. She realized how painful it must be for the person you desire to not return your affections. Even if Dean was not in the picture, Dawn knew they were wrong for each other- so did Sebastian. Dawn had changed, and the life she had now made sense to her. And no matter how strange it seemed, she did not want to make things harder on him.

After a few minutes Sebastian walked Dawn to his hotel door. She stood in front of the opened door and turned back to face him.

"Oh- and no more keeping tabs on me secretly. If you want to check up on me, just call." She nodded, waving a finger in his direction.

"Okay-" He agreed, his lips sporting that same familiar smirk.

Dawn spread her arms around, reaching around his muscular neck for a warm hug. After a few seconds, Sebastian's hand starting drifting down her back. Dawn quickly pulled away and smacked him on the arm with a hefty jab.

"Alright- goodbye-" She rolled her large blue eyes and released a loud huff. She turned around and began walking down the long hallway.

Dawn was sure things would work out for Sebastian. The conversation that had happened moments ago was something that needed to take place. The two of them had never experienced any kind of closure with their relationship, and she knew Sebastian needed that even more than she did. It was the official closing of that chapter in her life, as she set forth into the new phase of her future. As bumpy and sometimes overwhelming as it may be, the path she was on was the right one, she knew that for certain.


	8. Ghost Stories

Notes: Hope you enjoy this Halloween themed chapter just for you! I expect to get things rolling in the direction of case by case episodes next week, but I wanted this to be a bit different than the usual Halloween theme.  
Stay safe everyone and have a Happy Halloween!

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or BtVS- I make no profit this is solely for fun- blah blah blah!

* * *

There was a biting and frigid edge to the cold, waning night. The flames in the fireplace licked at the enclosing stone, their warmth emanating from the hearth. The colors danced around and left a glow against the surrounding area. Crackling sounds of the burning wood echoed against the near empty walls, causing a relaxing reaction.

The heat from the fireplace that warmed the inside of the room, shielded it from the icy temperature that was outside. The night was colder than usual- especially for Halloween. It was definitely not an ideal night for trick or treating children. It was a night for thick blankets and hot chocolate- which was what a group of hunters had decided was an excellent idea.

Dawn grasped the mug, her fingers intertwining through the handle and around the warm surface of the cup. She was sitting on a couch, her legs curled up on the cushion. She sat surrounded by her three friends, who were also enjoying their cocoa near the fireplace. They had checked into a hotel during their travels, which was very desolate. The quiet was pleasant, it almost made them forget that they were in a hotel.

"I wonder what crazy monster Buffy is fighting right now," Dawn sighed. Her thoughts drifted to her sister, and just how desperately she missed her company. After years of fighting and bickering with her sister, she had come to admire her.

"I thought she had a night off on Halloween?" Mercy looked over at Dawn with a confounded expression. "Don't most monsters and ghoulies, think scheming on Halloween night is too obvious?"

"Supposedly yes," she nodded. "But we have had some very eventful Halloween's anyway."

Dawn thought about all the times that the Scoobies had planned on a night free from monster attacks, but were caught by surprise. She thought about the fake memories, the Halloween debacles that she was never really there for- the monk implanted memories. Then she thought about a few Halloween stories of her own- it seemed Halloween was rarely a boring night.

"Yeah," Dean interjected. "I haven't found that to be true either. The bad guys seem to ignore that little rule."

"Surprise, surprise! Bad guys ignoring rules!" Sam emitted a sarcastic chuckled from his throat and took a sip from his cocoa. The chocolatey drink warmed his throat as it slid down smoothly.

"I want to hear some of your stories," Mercy grinned. "Who has a creepy Halloween story? And not one about some run-of-the-mill monster, something really spooky."

Mercy curled up on the couch, staring starry-eyed at the three hunters. She was awaiting a reply, in hopes of a spooky story or two. She tucked her vibrant red hair behind her ear and leaned back against the sofa with an expectant look on her face.

"I kind of have a story," Sam added from the sofa opposite them.

"Oooh, do tell!" Mercy beamed- her dazzling cerulean eyes stared in Sam's direction, awaiting his tale.

Sam couldn't help but smile at the blithe behavior of this whimsical girl. Her eyes were nearly enchanting enough to distract him from his previous conversation. There was something about this strange girl that reminded him of someone, but he couldn't quite place his finger on it.

"Alright," Sam agreed.

"Dean switch seats with me please?" She demanded with excitement in her voice. "That way I can hear every detail perfectly."

Dean just shook his head and stood up from his seat on the couch next to his brother. They both walked around the coffee table and to their new seats. Mercy snuggling into her blanket and curling up warmly on the couch next to Sam. There was an eagerness that made it obvious to Dawn exactly why she had asked to sit next to Sam.

Dean was perfectly happy to move, he sat on the couch next to Dawn. She slid closer and rested her head cozily onto his lap. As she awaited the story, she let out a relaxed sigh. There was a strange comfort that she felt when she was close to Dean. It was almost like being whole again, and as if when they were apart she was missing something she did not even realize was absent.

They all looked over at Sam, who began the strange act of reciting the tale. Sitting around a fire telling ghost stories was probably the strangest thing he had done in a long time. It made him feel like a kid again, but like a kid who had a normal childhood. Instead of telling ghost stories, his life had been spent living them.

"Alright-" Sam began. "One night- long before Dean came and dragged me away to be a hunter again. Long before I lost Jessica." He felt a twinge as he spoke her name. It still hurt, even after all this time- the pain never really goes away. "It was the night before Halloween and I was headed to the campus library..."

* * *

Sam walked down the well lit street, the night moon had begun to shine down upon the pavement below his feet. He adjusted the strap of the messenger back that was digging into his shoulder, before opening the door to the library.

Once he was inside, he noticed a couple students inside studying. They apparently had the same idea in mind as Sam- instead of wasting time partying he had hoped to get ahead on his classes. He had one complete ass of a calculus teacher, and although he was the best student in the class- it was obvious the professor was a bit jealous.

Sam could just check out the books he needed and use his laptop back in his dorm room. The problem with that idea was that every other student at his dorm was more preoccupied with pre-Halloween partying. The library was a much better location to get the work done that he needed. Besides if he spent tonight getting ahead on his work, that meant tomorrow night would be spent with Jessica.

He set his books out on the table and grabbed his laptop, getting straight to work. The few people around him seemed to have been there longer than him and he knew one of them. There was a young frail girl that he had class with, and a guy who looked a bit like a member of a fraternity. Sam laughed at the site of the guy wearing a pink polo shirt with a popped collar. He instantly thought of his brother, who he had not seen in a while. He thought of how Dean and him would get a good laugh together making fun of the frat boy who was drenched in the smell of Axe body spray. Sam released a silent chuckle to himself and went back to his books in front of him.

After only a few minutes Axe-boy received a phone call from his buddies and he followed the sound of stumbling drunk college girls out the door. The young girl from Sam's class was still sitting at the table across from him, buried in a book. She was a pretty girl, with jet black hair and thick eye-makeup. She had a couple piercings and wore very dark clothing, she fit into a very particular rebellious look. Sam liked her non-the-less, she was a nice girl- he wasn't much for judging people because they were different than him.

The librarian had been in the hospital for the past few days, so her assistant was there. It was an elderly gentlemen, with white hair and glasses. He was very quiet and reserved, but all the same he seemed nice.

A few hours had passed and Sam was growing tired. He stared at the stack of books in front of him, his eyes growing a bit fuzzy. He realized that it was just him inside the library now, and the librarian's assistant seemed to be busy organizing. Even the lights inside of the library were left to just the very dimmest brightness possible.

He let out a loud yawn and decided maybe he should start packing up his books and head back to the dorms for some rest. As he slid a thick blue biology book into his bag which was sitting on the chair next to him- he heard a noise. It sounded like a faint whisper, almost like a voice coming from somewhere very close by. Sam quickly looked around the room for signs of someone around him. His computer was shut off, so he knew it could not be coming from some pop up add, from the internet, that he had missed. When he saw that there was no one around- not even the library assistant- he rubbed his eyes and continued packing up his books. He just chalked it up to the fact that it was very late, and he was clearly exhausted from all the studying. It was easy to hear noises that were not there, especially something so quiet he couldn't be sure it was even a voice. He chuckled and shook his head, he was clearly being foolish.

After he had packed up all his books, he stretched his long arms above his head and released another loud yawn. Sam heard another noise- this time it was louder than before. It sounded like the same whispering as before, accept it was louder this time. He swore the voice was speaking his name, but the thought made him feel unbelievably ludicrous. Then it struck him- maybe someone was just messing with him- playing a bit of a joke on him. Most of the guys on campus loved playing Halloween pranks on people and scaring the wits out of them.

But again he heard the voice- much clearer than before. "Sam-" the eerie voice called to him. The sound was scratchy and it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand at attention. He quickly rose to his feet and pulled his bag around his shoulder and jerked his head around the room trying to catch site of whoever it was.

"Who's there?" Sam asked, his voice deliberately relaxed.

At this point he still assumed it was just a friend, trying to get a rise out of him. He wanted to make sure they did not think that he was afraid. Which although he was slightly concerned, at this point he was not scared. Sam was used to much worse than a creepy voice in an empty library. But the fact that he knew about real monsters, did make him wonder slightly if something menacing could be afoot.

He waited for an answer but heard nothing this time. He expected his friends would continue trying to mess him with- but most likely they would have answered. He took a few steps forward and looked around again.

"Alright guys- I know you're there." Sam rolled his hazel eyes and let out a deep breath. "Who is it? Is it Rick? Or Danny?" He called the names of the two friends who were mostly likely to play a petty and idiotic prank like this.

He heard no reply and so he continued walking towards the door. Then he heard it again- that same creepy voice calling his name even louder this time. He tried to look towards the direction of the noise, since the volume was clearer now. His eyes caught the site of a skeleton figure, which had recently been moved in there. It seemed strange to Sam that they would move one into the library, normally they left those for the science rooms. He took a few steps closer, trying to get a good look at the skeleton. It seemed like the direction that the whispering voice was emitting from.

He looked over the skeleton, which seemed perfectly normal. Nothing appeared to be odd about it, and it most certainly did not look like a talking skeleton. Sam scratched his head and took a step backwards. He felt instantly like the butt of an obnoxious joke, or maybe he was going crazy? He most certainly needed some rest- he was spent.  
As he headed back for the door once again, he heard a loud banging noise coming from further into the shelves. Sam instantly knew where the noise came from and felt his heart leap inside his chest. Something was clearly going on here and part of him knew it was not just a childish prank.

He began walking in the direction of the loud noise, reaching into his pocket for his Swiss Army Knife. He had no idea what he was walking into, so he crept slowly towards the racket. He continued walking deep into the library's back rooms, looking around as he wandered through the barriers of bookshelves. It was darker within the depths of the library, but Sam could still see enough to know where he was. The thick smell of dust clouded the air, and grew stronger the further he went. He felt a tickle in his throat, making him want to cough so that he could expel the dust particles.

Sam stopped when he heard another noise, it was the whimpering voice of a girl. He turned and saw the young raven haired girl from his class, sitting on the floor. She had a band of duct tape slapped across her mouth, and her hands were bound together. Her legs were tied to a pole which was on the end of one of the shelves. He rushed to her side and tore the tape from her lips, trying to be gentle, but she still let out a groan of pain. Sam continued to quickly slice at the rope with his knife as fast as he could.

"Sam!" She exclaimed, as tears streamed down her fear covered face. "Thank you so much! I thought I was dead."

"It's okay, I'm gonna get you out of here," he promised as he sliced at the last rope. "Who did this to you?"

"The librarian's assistant," she shivered and rubbed her sore wrists.

Sam was instantly shocked at her reply. He couldn't imagine the old man would do something like this, then again people never really were what they seemed. The old man who seemed perfectly innocent had abducted and tied up this young girl, for some personal reasons. Sam recalled stories of a few young girls going missing on campus, but it only seemed to be a very small amount and not enough to take notice of. He realized it must have been the librarian's assistant, but Sam felt that the strange timing suggested something deeper than just murder was on the old mans mind.

"Come on," he said as he pulled the girl from the ground gently.

Suddenly his eyes caught site of a shadow at the end of another bookshelf. He grabbed the girls hand and made her walk behind him as he advanced quietly towards the direction of the shadow. The last thing he wanted was for the girl to be in more danger, but he needed to deal with the man before he got away, and the girl would be safer with him than without him.

They came across a small round table, with a few strange things on top of it. Sam recognized the objects immediately as ritual sacrifice items. The old man was sacrificing the young girls that he captured on Halloween, for some sort of demonic ritual. Seeings as it was minutes until midnight, Halloween was fast approaching and the man would need another sacrifice now. Sam knew he had to stop him before he got another girl.

As they walked further, suddenly he felt the girl being ripped from his arms and he spun around instantly. The old man had a knife to the girls throat as he inched backwards away from Sam. He was standing near his table of tricks now, attempting to put as much space between himself and Sam as possible.

"Take one step and the girl gets it!" The old man's shaky voice shouted.

"Just take it easy," Sam said calmly. He held out his hands to gesture that there was nothing in them.

"Just get out of here!" He hissed angrily. "I have to sacrifice her! I have no choice!"

"Why?" Sam quested, trying to keep the man distracted as long as possible.  
"I made a deal a long time ago, with a demon. I have to keep giving her sacrifices every Halloween or else she takes me to hell!" The man was becoming increasingly fearful as he held the girl from behind. She trembled and tried not to move too much as tears ran down her reddened face.

"Just stay calm, I can help you," Sam assured him. "No one needs to die here."

The man instantly started inching towards the alter, and it was evident that he could not be reasoned with. Sam slid his hand into his pocket, wrapping his long fingers around the knife. Without hesitation he flung it towards the man at full speed. The knife struck the man in the face, and he dropped the knife in his own hand. He quickly fell to the ground, completely unmoving. Sam ran to the girl and lifted her once again, checking her over for any injuries.

They walked out of the deep shelves of the library and into the front room. He set her down in a chair, sitting next to her.

"Let's get you out of here," Sam said softly.

"Sam you saved my life," she spoke clutching onto him. "How did you even find me?"

"You were calling to me..."

"No-" she shook her head confused. "I had the tape around my mouth, I didn't say anything. I made the loud crashing noise when I slammed against the bookshelf."

"So you didn't call my name?"

"No, not once," she replied, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Then who did?" Sam asked in complete dismay.

* * *

"Are you fricking kidding me!?" Mercy exclaimed in surprise. "You made that up!"

"No, I swear," Sam shook his head. He couldn't help but smile at her amusing excitement. "I never found out who was calling my name. But I think it might have been a ghost of one of the girls he sacrificed. I believe that she was calling me to the girl, so I would save her life."

"Wow!" Mercy's sat next to Sam, completely slack-jawed.

"Look at her," Dawn giggled. "She's so amazed by a silly little ghost story."

"Shut up!" She hissed, trying to hold back her smile.

"Okay miss scream queen, do you have anything better?" Sam asked cocking his head.

"I do actually," Dawn nodded as she sat up straight now. "Accept mine isn't exactly a first person tale, it's about Buffy."

"Ooohh, slayer tale," Mercy said her eyes wide.

"What is it with you tonight?" Dawn giggled.

"She's just into the Halloween spirit." Sam suggested, and then looked over at the cherry haired girl.

"Exactly!" She bobbed her head and pouted her bottom lip. "Now what's your creepy story?"

"Alright, alright!" Dawn pursed her lips and took in a deep breath. "This was back when my sister Buffy had just died, and been resurrected. I've told you all about how when she came back the bills had piled up. Willow and Tara honestly were not much help at all, they basically used school as an excuse to leave the money troubles all on Buffy's shoulders."

She shook her head in disgust, remembering just how unfair the witches had been. Almost as if they just brought Buffy back so that they could give her all the stress they had been too weak to deal with. Willow and Tara had used college as an excuse, almost as if because of that they did not have to get jobs. Dawn was young then, but now that she thought about it from an adult perspective, she was extremely ashamed of them.

"That's not fair-" Mercy sighed, her face holding an unhappy expression.

"Yeah, it wasn't fair," Dawn nodded in agreement. "But anyways- Buffy went looking for a job and one job on the long lists of attempts she had, was as house cleaner..."

* * *

Buffy had finally found a job that seemed reasonable- one that shouldn't be interrupted by her slayer duties. It was a job she could do- as much as she didn't love cleaning, it would work for her. The woman that she worked for was the nicest boss she had ever had- so it made the job bearable.

She had been working for the woman named Alyssa for around a weeks time. The plan was that she would work only twice a week, but at first she needed her there everyday. The woman had plenty of filing to be done and clutter that needed to be organized. She was paying Buffy a lot of money to get it done as fast as possible.

It was Halloween and Buffy arrived at Alyssa's home in the morning. She did her usual cleaning, but noticed that there were absolutely no paintings on the wall. It was highly unusual since every other day that she had arrived at the house the walls were not baron like this. It gave her the creeps the second she noticed it, something just looked wrong about walls that were so utterly naked. She tried to ignore the awkward sight that was making her uneasy and continued with her work.

"Hey, Buffy!" Alyssa announced as she walked into the room, the click-clacking of her high heels previously announcing her presence. Buffy had no idea that she was still home, normally she would be at work on a weekday.

"Oh, hello Alyssa," Buffy looked at her stunned. She held a cloth in her hands as she wiped down the kitchen counters.

Alyssa was a pretty woman, only about ten years older than Buffy was at the time- which meant she was heading into her early thirties. She had long locks of reddish brown hair that lay across her shoulder in perfect silky waves. She had a very angular and intense structure to her face that made her perfect for modeling. Her body was long and slender, and her choice of clothing was always chic and stylish.

"I was wondering if you could start sorting through the papers in my office. I can show which boxes I want you to organize if that is okay?" She grinned sheepishly. Buffy had never had a boss act so nice, or be so polite to their worker.

"Of course!" Buffy answered and began following her towards her office.

They walked down the long hallway and at the end they arrived at the locked room. Buffy had never been allowed inside of this room before. Alyssa turned the key inside the door, making a clicking sound and entered first gesturing for Buffy to follow her.

"Just those boxes over there," she pointed to a small pile of cardboard boxes filled with papers. "Everything else is off limits. Here's the key so you can lock up the office when you are done." She handed a small key ring with a few keys on it to Buffy. "Are you all set?"

"Yeah," she replied. "Can I ask you a question, Alyssa?"

"Of course!" She said in a perky tone.

"Where are all of the paintings?"

"Oh-" Alyssa's face dropped to the floor. "I- um- sent them to get cleaned up and some of them re-framed."

It was evident by her reaction that she was not telling the truth. Buffy just couldn't understand what she could possibly be lying about. What was the deal exactly with those missing paintings? Why were the walls completely empty...she felt a little strange event thinking about it. But usually when Buffy felt uneasy about something she had a reason- call it a slayers intuition.

After Alyssa left and shut the door behind her, Buffy began organizing the boxes like she had been asked to do. She was nearly finished when she decided to search for something- anything really that would tell her why her boss was lying. She wasn't sure that Alyssa was untrustworthy entirely, but she could feel that something was making her nervous.

Buffy moved her long blond hair behind her shoulders and made her way to Alyssa's work desk. She tried to slide the long middle drawer open but it would not budge. Then she noticed a small keyhole in the center of the wooden drawer. She grabbed the keys out of her pocket that Alyssa had handed her and searched for the appropriately sized key. Finally after attempting a few similar sized keys which failed to open the desk drawer, Buffy found the correct one. She slid it open slowly, and looked inside the desk. It almost felt like she was opening Pandora's box and in that moment all the evil of the world would come flowing out of it- she chuckled at herself.  
She rustled the papers around, trying not to mess them up too much. She was searching for anything that might be important enough to Alyssa that she would hide it inside a locked drawer. Most of what she found was just account numbers and personal information that she wanted kept safe.  
Finding nothing inside the middle drawer Buffy used the same key to open the large drawer on the right side of the desk. The second she slid it open, her attention was drawn to a small brown book that seemed slightly tattered. It was obvious she used this book often- maybe it was a diary? She opened the book, thankful that it did not have a lock as well. She tried to skim through the pages, hoping to find something- which was hard since she had no clue what she was searching for. Then she came to a page that was inserted into the book, it appeared to be a letter addressed to Alyssa.

_ Dear Alyssa,_

_ I am sorry to inform you that I could not find any escape from this curse. There is little information on the woman who cursed you and I have no way of finding her or more about the_

_ magic that she used on you. All I can suggest is that on Halloween you stay as far away from _

_ paintings as possible, I fear that mirrors could be just as much of a problem. Keep in contact _

_ with me and I will keep searching for a solution to this dreadful spell. Be safe and if you are_

_ ever in need of my help just call._

_ -Mr. Benson_

Buffy could hear some noises in the living room nearby so she shuffled to put the book back into the drawer and lock it up securely. She quickly scurried towards the other boxes where she had been sorting and began going through them once again. She was relieved when Alyssa did not walk into the room, but she did not go back to probe the drawers again.

Soon she was finished sorting and she left the office, locking it up behind her. When Buffy walked into the living room, she saw Alyssa sitting on the couch pouring herself a cup of tea from a fancy pot.

"Hey!" Alyssa greeted her warmly with a smile. "Did you finish?" She asked as she plopped a few cubes of sugar into her cup.

"Yup," Buffy nodded.

"Come sit," she patted the empty space on the couch next to her. "Want some tea?"

"Sure," Buffy said as she sat next to her.

Alyssa poured a second cup full of the scolding liquid and continued to ask Buffy how she liked her tea. She plopped in the many cubes of sugar and the cream that she requested. Buffy enjoyed being able to relax around her boss- even though she knew she was lying to her about something- she trusted her. It was obvious now that whatever she was lying about was this curse someone had inflicted her with. Alyssa pulled out a cigarette, her hands were shaking nervously. It was obvious that she was afraid, and Buffy wanted desperately to ask her what was wrong.

"Do you mind?" She asked gesturing with the cigarette in between her fingers.

"No," Buffy shook her head. "I'm used to it- but I thought you didn't smoke anymore?"

"I don't- but I am a bit on edge today." She swallowed anxiously and rummaged around her purse for a lighter. "Do you have a lighter?" She asked dramatically dropping her arms when she realized her lighter was no longer in her purse.

"Um- maybe in my purse-" She answered and went to stand up quickly to retrieve it.

"No- I'll get it for you!"  
She rose to her feet and went to retrieve the small white purse that Buffy had gotten as a gift from her sister. At this point and time Dawn was going through a bit of a kleptomaniac phase and she hoped this purse was not another in a long line of items nabbed with a five finger discount.

Alyssa sat down and handed Buffy the purse. She sat it on the couch in between them and began fuddling through the items inside in search of a lighter. If she had one it was one that Spike had placed in there, and she believed he had done so. She grabbed a few things from her purse which clearly needed to be cleaned it- it was packed with unnecessary items- and stakes. She held the side of the purse with a small hand mirror clutched in her hand.

Suddenly Alyssa's eyes were drawn to the mirror and her face became a painting of terror. Buffy looked over at her fright filled face and suddenly realized what she had done. She remembered the letter and how it had said to avoid mirrors as well as paintings. Before she could pull the mirror away, she watched as Alyssa began to look different- something strange was happening. Her skin began to lighten and morph, almost as if it were turning into some form of smoke. Almost as if she were floating- molecule by molecule, she glided like fluid towards the mirror. Buffy could feel the force entering the mirror, and it pushed against the strength in her hand. Within seconds, she was left, sitting completely alone in the large house. Her mouth hung open as she stared down at the reflector in her hand- which seemed exactly the same as before. It certainly did not appear to be a vessel for her boss.

"Maybe she was a genie-" Buffy spoke from the corner of her mouth and began foolishly rubbing the side of the mirror.

Buffy had seen many horrors and shocking things in her life- but nothing topped this. By simply grabbing a mirror carelessly from her purse, she had caused Alyssa to become sucked inside of the glass- possibly forever.

* * *

"Wait- where did she go?" Dean asked looking over at Dawn in shock.

"Buffy and the rest of us did everything we could to find out what happened and to try and get Alyssa back. We contacted Mr. Benson who had sent her the letter," Dawn explained. "He told us that Alyssa was not dead. The curse caused her to become sucked into any kind of portal that she looked at- and only on Halloween. Paintings are considered portals into other realities- if she looked at a painting she would become a part of it- a part of that reality. But a mirror is different, she would be sucked into another dimension of some sort."

"Holy crap!" Mercy gawked. "And you couldn't get her back?"

"No," Dawn sighed. "The only way she will be able to get home, is by finding the right portal, and jumping around. If she was lucky- than whatever place she ended up, was still celebrating Halloween and she could continue to jump through dimensions."

"Did you find out who cursed her?" Sam asked, his eyes wide.

"All we know is that the woman who cursed her did it out of jealousy. She was in love with a man who loved Alyssa. Sadly, Alyssa lost him in another dimension years ago and has never been able to get back to him."

"Okay- I am officially spooked for the night." Mercy's expression was completely awed, as she subtly wiggled closer to Sam.

"Happy Halloween!" Dawn chirped, giving her friend a teasing grin.


End file.
